LIFE AND SELECTED WRITINGS 



OF 



Francis Dana Hemenway, 

LATE PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND BIBLICAL LITERA- 
TURE IN THE GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTITUTE, 
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. 



CHARLES F. BRADL.KY, AMOS W. PATTEN, 
CHARLES M. STUART. 



CINCINNATI AND CHICAGO : 

CRANSTON & S T OWE. 

1890. 



9 ' IT 



PREFACE 



r I A HIS work was undertaken as the result of a 
suggestion made at the annual meeting of the 
Alumni Association of Garrett Biblical Institute in 
May, 1887. The committee appointed were left with- 
out special instruction as to matter and form, and free 
also to make their own division of labor. From his 
special intimacy with Professor Hemenway, the biog- 
raphy was assigned to Professor C. P. Bradley, D. D., of 
the class of 1878, who, to perfect his labor of love, spent 
part of the summer of 1888 in the scenes of Professor 
Hemen way's bqyj^od and early manhood, and secured 
reminiscences from friends who remembered him as 
student, teacher, and pastor. Former students, friends, 
and parishioners were also laid under contribution 
through correspondence, and a careful and thorough 
examination made of diary, letters, and tributes of 
contemporaries, to portray, as characteristically as 
might be, the features of one whom all alike loved 
and honored. The committee acknowledge gratefully 
the kindness of all friends who responded to the re- 
quest for reminiscences; and especially the unfailing 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

and sympathetic assistance of Mrs. Hemenway, who 
placed at their disposal her husband's diary and let- 
ters, and in many other helpful ways made easier and 
more intelligent the work committed to them. To 
the Rev. Dr. Amos W. Patten, of the class of 1870, 
was assigned the preparation of the general lectures, 
sermons, and addresses; and to this writer, the lec- 
tures on hymnology. The work is now sent forth to 
perpetuate, in some degree, the labors of an able, de- 
voted, and accomplished minister and teacher. May 
it reach many, to help and to bless! 

CHAELES M. STUART, 

Chairman of the Committee. 

Evanston, III., April, 1890. 



CONTENTS. 



Part I— LIFE. 

BY PROF. C. F. BRADLEY, D. D. 

PAGE. 

Chapter I. The Home among the Hills, 9 

" II. The School-house and Church at the Corners, 14 

" III. Early Religious Life, 23 

" IV. School-days at Newbury and Concord, . . 35 

" V. Pastorate at Montpelier, 49 

VI. New Fields at the West 60 

VII. At Evanston, 73 

" VIII. In Labors More Abundant, 89 

IX. In Memoriam— 1884, 102 



Part II— STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 

edited by rev. c. m. stuart, b. d. 

Introductory Note, 137 

Chapter I. Hymns and Lyric Poetry in General, .... 141 

II. Hymns of the Ancient Church, 155 

" , III. Earlier Medieval Hymns, 170 

" IV. Later Medieval Hymns, 185 

V. Hymns from German Authors, 202 

VI. Earlier English Hymns, 227 

" VII. Hymns of Isaac Watts, 240 

" VIII. Hymns of the Wesleys, 256 

Notes, 278 



6 



CONTENTS. 



Part III— LECTURES AND SERMONS. 

EDITED BY REV. A. W. PATTEN, D. D. 

PAGE. 

I. Special Qualifications Needed for a Methodist Pastor, 291 



II. Ritualism in the Methodist Episcopal Church, . . . 306 

III. Outlook of Methodism, 315 

IV. God's Requirements; or, the Trinity of Spiritual 

Character, 324 

V. The Vicariousness of Human Life, 339 

VI. The Character of a True Life, 354 

• VII. The Christian Minister, 370 

VIII. Fidelity to Truth, 391 



Biographical Sfcebct) 



PROFESSOR C. F. BRADLEY, D . 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE HOME AMONG THE HILLS. 

THE country east of the center of Vermont is 
marked by huge ridges of hills running north 
and south. In a pleasant valley between two of these, 
through which flows the First Branch of White River, 
nestles the village of Chelsea. Up to the present day 
no railroad train has disturbed its. rural quiet. A yel- 
low coach drawn by four horses brings mail and pas- 
sengers once a day from South . Royalton, thirteen 
miles down the valley. West of the village green 
rises the noble West Hill, whose highest point is not 
less than seventeen hundred feet above the sea-level. 
A mountain road, starting from the north end of the 
village street, climbs up this ridge. There are dense 
woods on the left, and glimpses of vale and hill on 
the right as one ascends, until higher ranges of hills, 
with intervening valleys, are attained. After about 
two miles, an abrupt turn to the right and another 
half mile bring the visitor to the Hemenway home- 
stead. It is a small but comfortable house, sur- 
rounded by the ordinary buildings of a New England 
farm. Behind is a wooded hill, and in front a mea- 
dow with its brook. Undulating hills and a blue 
peak in the distance complete the pleasing picture. 

2 9 



10 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



In this farm-house, on the tenth day of November, 
1830, Francis Dana Hemenway was born. 

The father, Jonathan Wilder Hemenway, was born 
in Barre, Massachusetts, in 1784, and came to Chelsea 
in 1810. His first wife bore him three sons and four 
daughters. The mother of Alpheus and Francis was 
the second wife, Sarah Hebard. As is so often the 
case when a distinguished son comes from an other- 
wise unknown family, the boy inherited from the 
mother his marked mental and moral traits. She is 
described by those who remember her as above the 
medium height, with large, dark and expressive eyes. 
Her manner was quiet and sedate. Though not a 
church member, she was a religious woman, and, hav- 
ing a sweet voice, sang in the church choir. The 
whole family felt the inspiration of her intelligence 
and character. Her mother, Sarah Davison, was also 
a woman of superior mind and manners. She is said 
to have been a Congregationalism Such glimpses, 
slight but gratifying, we get of " the grandmother 
Lois and the mother Eunice. " 

Given a New England stock, a simple New Eng- 
land country home, and the influences of New Eng- 
land village life, and what will be the result? As 
well might we ask what carbon will become in Na- 
ture's laboratory. The Vermont and New Hamp- 
shire farmers' boys in those days had possibilities. 
Webster, Marsh, Chase, and many others, prove that. 
The humbler Puritan stock had the strength of granite, 
and contained here and there veins of gold-bearing 
quartz. The district schools and the rural academies 
discovered the gold, and the country colleges gave it 



THE HOME AMONG THE HILLS. 



11 



a stamp which made it current in the markets of the 
world. It is interesting to note the contrast between 
the conditions of the country-boy of unusual talent, 
born in an undistinguished home, and the son of a 
family of the New England " Brahmin caste. " The 
latter had great odds in his favor; inherited talents, 
culture from the cradle, a literary atmosphere for daily 
breathing, family influences — which were often in 
themselves a liberal education — the best schools and 
colleges, the stimulus of family pride, and often foreign 
travel and study to widen the horizon and finish the 
training. Yet the country lad would often win in the 
long race. He had his peculiar advantages. The 
simpler state offered fewer temptations. The out-of- 
door life favored freer development of mind and body, 
and furnished solitude for thought and intimacy with 
Nature. There was less conventionality, and more 
chance for maturing individuality. The New Eng- 
land farm and village life was the mold of some of 
our greatest and best Americans. 

Fortunately we have some descriptions of life on the 
West Hill of Chelsea during the boyhood of Francis 
Hemenway in his own words. Its circle embraced the 
farm-house, the school, the neighborhood and village so- 
ciety, and the church. Its main features may be quickly 
sketched. There was a simplicity about it which 
might seem to us to involve hardship. This embraced 
cold bedrooms in winter, early rising, plain fare, hard 
work, meager expression of affection, few holidays, 
and few papers and books. Yet there were lofty ideals 
connected with this plain living. There were strict 
integrity, high devotion to duty, deep though unde- 



12 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



monstrative family affection, Puritan morality, high 
intelligence and practical good sense, and noble types 
of manhood and womanhood, such as have ever lifted 
the poorest of our New England native homes im- 
measurably above the cottage of the ordinary Euro- 
pean peasant. The Hemenway home lacked only 
family religion to make it typical of the best New 
England family life. Even this lack was to a large 
extent supplied by the mother, who taught her chil- 
dren to pray and read the Bible. Her death, when 
Francis was nine years old, left him deeply be- 
reaved, but permanently benefited by her teachings 
and example. 

Francis developed rapidly in body and mind until 
his fourteenth year. He was then a robust and merry 
boy, large for his age, and with a growing reputation 
as a precocious scholar, fond both of fun and of his 
books. One old neighbor, now eighty-three years of 
age, remembers him as "a first-rate boy — an extra 
boy ; bound to make his mark. " A proof of this 
recognized precocity is the tradition, cherished in the 
family, though not fully vouched for, that when seven 
years old he read the whole New Testament in a 
week. Certain it is, that before he was eight, he had 
read the entire Bible through. 

A severe illness in his fourteenth year marks a 
crisis in his life. The nature of the disease is not cer- 
tainly known. He himself, in his later life, regarded 
the improper treatment of an ignorant physician as 
more serious than the disease. Some years of ill- 
health followed. He could do little work or hard 
study. Yet this serious check, which seems to have 



THE HOME AMONG THE HILLS. 



13 



put a ball and chain henceforth upon his physical 
strength, and which doubtless shortened his life, 
brought blessings too. Relieved from the necessity of 
working on the farm, he had leisure for study. His 
life became more solitary and introspective, and habits 
of religious meditation and prayer were formed, which 
gave wings to his spirit. The depth and originality 
of his spiritual life owed much, no doubt, to the quiet 
hours he spent in the woods and in the little chamber 
with its one south window, which is still cherished as 
" Francis' room. " 



14 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE SCHOOL-HOUSE AND CHURCH AT THE 
CORNERS. 

" 'T^HE Corners," which formed the center of social 
and religious life for the neighborhood, were 
about a mile and a half south-west of the Hemenway 
farm. They could boast neither post-office nor store, 
and but few dwellings. The plain, typical Vermont 
district school-house, which stood at the cross-roads, 
had no comeliness of form or feature; but that its 
surroundings and influence were held in grateful re- 
membrance by this man whose boyhood was blessed 
by them, we know from the following sketch, written 
in the early days of his last illness : 

"There it stood, turning its homely but honest face toward 
me, as I made my weary journey of a mile and a half from 
my childhood home to this scene and center of my early toils 
and triumphs. There was no paint on the walls, either out- 
side or inside ; no inclosing fence ; no friendly shade of trees ; 
and no shrubbery of any kind, except that on one side the orig- 
inal underbrush had never been fully cleared away. Fortu- 
nately, however, the woods were not far away, and here were 
found inexhaustible resources in climbing the trees, getting 
spruce-gum, and hunting the squirrels and rabbits. Indeed, 
they were to us boys a veritable Arcadia. I have heard a 
good deal about ' classic groves ' and ' scholarly retreats,' and 
have seen some of the most famous of these on both sides of 
the sea, but have found nothing that has brought to me more 
exhilaration, or a more delicious sense of freedom and wealth, 
than came to me in that oft-frequented forest. Our play- 



THE SCHOOL-HOUSE AND CHURCH. 



ir, 



ground was, to appearance, rather restricted ; for, in the good 
old utilitarian times, no heresy could have been more radical 
than that of actually providing a play- ground for the children. 
But human nature is wiser than puritanical rules, and stronger 
than the barriers which the unthoughtfulness and poverty of 
our parents had thrown about us ; for we took, as our rightful 
domain, 'all out-doors,' finding our only limits in the length 
of the nooning or recess. ... Of course each day 
of the winter's school began by the building of the fire by the 
boy whose turn it was, for we were our own janitors. The 
young hero had to make an early start ; had to do all his own 
chores at home — feed the horses, milk the cows, feed the cattle, 
clear the stables, eat his breakfast, put up the doughnuts and 
apples for his dinner — take his walk of half a mile, or mile, or 
mile and a half, and get a rousing fire started by half-past eight 
o'clock. At nine the work began. The staple of the work for 
the first hour of each session was reading. The first class, 
made up of all the full-grown boys and girls, read in the 
' American First Class Book,' compiled by John Pierpont. 
This exercise consisted in calling upon each individual in turn 
to stand up at his seat and read a paragraph, which, with the 
aid of the teacher's prompting, he would generally be able to 
do. The second class would be distinguished by being called 
out to sit together on a front seat to repeat substantially the 
same programme as the first, except that a different reading-book 
was used, which, for many years, was ' Emerson's Second Class 
Reader.' The days of the 'Scott's Lessons,' the 'English 
Reader,' and the ' Art of Reading,' had gone by, and the above 
avant- couriers of the comfng multitude had taken their places. 
The other classes were called up into the floor, and had to stand 
with their toes exactly to the crack in the floor, while they 
went through the same original and exciting exercise. Then 
came the time for the master to go round to each one who 
1 ciphered,' and ask him if he had any difficulty in doing the 
'sums,' and when any one was pointed out, he was expected 
to take slate and pencil, and work out the example for the 
benefit of the lazy dunce. And now there is a lull. The 
master seems to be getting through, and the boys are all 
awake and under a common spell. Suddenly the word is 



16 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



spoken, 'Boys may go out,' and upon the instant the door 
flies open, and with an explosion like a bottle of pop, the 
school-house discharges one-half of its contents into the street. 
Had a pound of dynamite been exploded under the seat of 
each individual boy, the movement would hardly have been 
more prompt. But when, after five minutes, the rapping of 
the master's ruler upon the rattling window-sash called us 
again to duty, the effervescence had all departed, and we came 
back with exemplary sedateness. 

" We had little apparatus in the old school-house. I well re- 
member when our first blackboard put in an appearance — a 
rather diminutive specimen, about two feet by three — and we 
had to wait a year or two before anybody could find a use to 
put it to. As for a globe, or outline maps, we had never seen 
them, and had no idea of any purpose they could serve. Even 
a call-bell w T as an unnecessary refinement; there was more 
character, and more ominous suggestiveness, in the birch ruler. 
The only absolutely indispensable article of apparatus was this 
same ruler. Whatever else the teacher had, or did not have, it 
would not do for him to be without this. You might as well 
have a mason without a trowel, a barber without a razor, or a 
policeman without his club. At all events, I have a pretty 
distinct memory that, in my days, this particular article of 
school apparatus was put to constant and faithful service. 

"What did we do in that old school-house? Just about 
every thing. If there was any thing we did not do, it was be- 
cause it had not been invented. We strained every nerve, 
exercised every muscle, practiced every sense; took all the 
studies from the alphabet to algebra, geometry, rhetoric, chem- 
istry, and 'Watts on the Mind;' carved in the soft basswood 
desks all possible grotesqueness in form; upset the benches; 
experienced about every form of penalty which pedagogic in- 
genuity could invent, from 'ferrilling' to standing on the 
floor, or sitting among the girls. In the evenings we had de- 
bates, spelling-schools, and exhibitions. 

"But how can I recount the histories which were made 
there? As my mind dwells upon it, I feel the flow of infinite 
numbers, and take warning from the inexhaustibleness of 
my theme to constrain myself into limits. That old house 



THE SCHOOL-HOUSE AND CHURCH. 



17 



becomes, in my memory, a world peopled with innumerable 
forms of beauty and life. Never may I, this side of heaven, 
realize intenser experiences than in the days when my life re- 
volved about this center. This old house represents one of 
the mightiest forces which have come into my own life. I 
have seen many good schools, and have taught some of them 
myself, I may say in all modesty, and yet I have never known 
any school that was more loyal to its own work, or one in 
which the lines of progress were more directly drawn. If I 
interrogate my own experience, I am constrained to the con- 
clusion that some of my most important school-work was done 
in this old Vermont school-house before I was twelve years of 
age. The decisions which have determined the hue and color- 
ing of my life, so far as I can now judge, were, in large meas- 
ure, made in that early time." 

Not far from the school-house stood the church, 
or, as it was then called, the " West Hill Meeting- 
house. " This was a unique institution, which served 
a variety of purposes, and was not the home of any 
one Christian organization. The Methodists of the 
neighborhood formed a class, which met in some 
private house, but held their membership in the 
Church at Chelsea village. Their pastor preached a 
certain number of Sundays in the West Hill Meeting- 
house, according to an arrangement described below. 
The following sketch, written by Dr. Hemenway for 
the Vermont Messenger , gives us a charming picture 
of this peculiar sanctuary : 

" It was a union church ; such an one as a good old Episco- 
palian minister used to call a Pantheon — that is, a place where 
all the gods are worshiped. But this was by no means true 
of this dear old church. Many indeed, and various, were the 
'performances' of which it was the scene and witness, strik- 
ing every chord of human experience, from pathos to bathos. 



18 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



Funerals, weddings, sermons, lectures on temperance, lectures 
on phrenology, lectures on mesmerism, magic-lantern exhibi- 
tions, school exhibitions, revivals, prayer-meetings, Sunday- 
schools, singing-schools, and lyceum debates, have all pre- 
sented themselves in turn in this community kaleidoscope. 
Methodists, Congregationalists, ITniversalists, Adventists, Bap- 
tists — Freewill and Calvinistic — and Christians (with the first 
'z' long), held places in the ecclesiastical procession. And 
yet the difference was mainly in the minister and the name ; 
the congregation, the choir, the hymn-books, and the order of 
service were, for the most part, the same. This can also be 
said of the subject-matter of the preaching, if one or two of 
the denominations be excepted. And it is my belief that, not- 
withstanding the various names and creeds represented in the 
services, the worship in that humble country church, as con- 
stantly and truly as in any church I have ever attended, was 
paid to the living and true God. 

" It had just fifty-two pews, divided among fifty-one owners 
(except that one man, with a very large family, w T ent to the 
extravagance of owning two), one for each Sunday in the year. 
A most fortunate circumstance was this, for it furnished a 
ready and perfect solution of the problem of occupancy. At 
the beginning of the year, subscription papers were circulated 
among the pew-owners, and they, according to their denomi- 
national preferences, signed their Sundays to Baptists, Meth- 
odists, etc. ; the number of names on each paper indicating 
the number of Sundays that denomination might control the 
house that year. Generally, as already intimated, the same 
congregation would be present, whoever preached; though, as 
must be confessed, when the ITniversalists 'occupied,' the con- 
gregations were ' pretty slim.' 

" Few spots on this green earth are to me as this old. 
church. I have sat on its hard benches (for never were seats 
constructed with a more sublime unconsciousness of the anat- 
omy of the human frame) for many dismal hours, and oft- 
times with a burning indignation against the minister for his 
bad faith, in that he had finally come to say 'once more,' and 
then, after thus raising my hopes, had rudely dashed them 
again by keeping on, as I thought, a good many times more. 



THE SCHOOL-HOUSE AND CHURCH. 19 

My most sacred and most cherished memories center here. 
Here I first became accustomed to the services of religion, for 
the voice of prayer and praise was not wont to be heard in my 
childhood home. Here I recited my first Sunday-school 
lesson; here I first knelt as a 'seeker' at the ' anxious seat;' 
here I stammered out my first words of Christian testimony; 
here I was baptized and licensed to exhort ; here I spoke my 
first words as a Christian minister; and here, too, I was mar- 
ried. Here, with an ineffable sense of desolation, a pitiable 
boy of nine, I last looked on the dear face of my mother; and 
fifteen years later, in the very same place, the words of re- 
ligion were spoken at the funeral of my father. In the old 
burying-ground, in the rear, sleep my parents, my wife's par- 
ents, a sister of each of us, together with many a friend and 
playmate of our childhood years. 

"Various, indeed, have been the 'gifts' which have been 
exercised in that pulpit. Sermons of the ' vealy ' type, sermons 
of the traditional ' hard-shell ' variety, and sermons as keen and 
resistless as one ever hears, would follow each other in close 
order. The holy tones of the 'Freewillers,' the 'roarations' of 
the ' Campaigners,' and the affectations of the college-bred min- 
isters, were all familiar to the people who worshiped there. 
The singing ranged from such minor fugues as 'Complaint,' 
'Eussia,' and 'New Durham' — any one of which was doleful 
enough to start tears from anybody who had tears to shed — to 
'The Old Granite State,' which was made to carry such choice 
and devotional lines as — 

' You will see your Lord a coming, 
You will see the dead arising, 
We '11 march up into the city, 
While a band of music, 
While a band of music, 
While a band of music, 
Will be sounding through the air.' 

By way of an awful warning to all choristers and choirs, 
I must relate what once happened because of a fugue 
tune there. 

" It was on a bright afternoon in midsummer that the min- 
ister, from his tub-shaped pulpit, which was just a little 



20 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



lower than the singers' gallery, gave out that most searching 
hymn of Joseph Hart: 

' O, for a glance of heavenly day.' 

The faithful chorister had already before him his list of tunes, 
and the moment the minister said 'long meter,' set to work 
looking up the tune. His choice was telegraphed to the vari- 
ous sections of the choir, and the singing began. The hymn 
was solemn, and the tune in keeping with it, while a fugue ar- 
rangement of the last line added to its expressiveness. But 
alas! little did we expect what was before us; for when we 
reached the third verse, it came upon us in this fearful fashion: 

'Thy judgments, too, which devils fear, 
Amazing thought ! unmoved I hear ; 
Goodness and wrath in vain combine 
Bass— To stir this stu— 
Tenor— To stir this stu— 
Alto— To stir this stu— 
All.— To stir this stu-pid heart of mine.' 

" But, after all, my main interest, as I look back to that old 
church, centers in the people who used to worship there. As 
I think of one after another who used to tread those aisles 
and sit in those pews, what an interesting, and ofttimes gro- 
tesque, panorama passes before me ! Here is Deacon H , 

who invariably came to meeting late, and marched up the aisle, 
hat in one hand and whip in the other, with his thoroughly 
dried calf-skin boots squeaking like a band of music. And 

Deacon L , who, as the reward of long, faithful practice, had 

come to that rare state of harmony between body and soul that 
he could sit bolt upright, and close his eyes at the beginning of 
the sermon, as if for divine communion, sleep soundly and 
sweetly as an infant in its mother's arms, and wake up promptly 
at the ' amen ' without any starts or false motions. Not so ex- 
pert, however, was a son of another of the deacons — Deacon 
S . His name was John, and on one occasion, during ser- 
mon time, he leaned forward, resting his head on the back of 
the pew before him, in which unhealthy and uncomfortable 
position he fell asleep. Soon, however, the preacher having 
occasion to refer to the beloved disciple, called out in a clear 



THE SCHOOL-HOUSE AND CHURCH. 



21 



and somewhat dramatic tone, 'John.' Our friend, being sud- 
denly brought back to consciousness, and thinking his father 
was making his last and most peremptory call for him in the 
morning to get up and ' do the chores,' startled all about him 
by calling out : * I 'm coming, father !' It was not, however, in 
this church, but another, that the preacher, having become 
fairly discouraged and desperate at the universal stupor of the 
congregation, with a boldness (in expedients) to which we 
were not accustomed in our New England churches, suddenly 
stopped, and called upon the people to stand up and sing: 

' My drowsy powers, why sleep ye so ? 
Awake, my sluggish soul. 1 

But he must have experienced some laceration in his own 
breast, as he heard them calling out in the very words which 
he had put them to: 

' Nothing hath half thy work to do, 
Yet nothing 's half so dull.' 

" Blessings on the memory of the ministers who used to 
look down upon me from the pulpit of that old church ! The 
first Methodist preacher I ever heard — and that was too early 
for me to distinctly remember — was the Eev. James M. Fuller, 
who is still * doing good service as presiding elder of the most 
important district in the State of Michigan. What a throng of 
sacred memories cluster about the name of Elisha J. Scott! 
One of my most distinct and vivid recollections is of a baptis- 
mal scene in which he officiated. Twenty-eight young men 
and women marched from this church to the pond, which 
had been extemporized as a baptismal font, singing, 

4 On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,' 

and were all immersed. 

" But I may not call the roll of all the precious names 
which are inscribed on my memory and graven on my grate- 
ful heart. Again I say, blessings on the memory of the dead 



*In . Dr. Fuller is now (1889) a superannuate of the Detroit 

Conference, and lives in Detroit. 



22 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



and on the hearts and lives of the living! What would have 
been the history of that community without that humble 
church? What would I have been? My soul shudders with 
fear as I look down into the abyss of dark possibilities." 

Among others who preached in this old church 
was the Rev. Amasa G. Button, of whom Dr. Hem- 
enway wrote: "I heard him preach often, and under 
a great variety of circumstances — in the village church, 
in the little country meeting-house on the hill, in 
school-houses, and in private residences — and always 
with much satisfaction. I do not think it is often 
given to a minister to make a more distinct and per- 
manent impression on a boy of twelve, than I have 
retained from those important years. He led the 
first Methodist class-meeting I ever attended." 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



23 



CHAPTER III. 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



O form a complete picture of the outward condi- 



A tious of Francis Hemenway's early life, we need 
only add the additional features of the neighborhood 
and village society. The neighboring homes were 
substantially like his own, though in some of them 
there was a more positive religious and intellectual 
life. This was exemplified in the household of Mr. 
Ichabod Bixby, a man of excellent mind and marked 
religious character, and the class-leader for this neigh- 
borhood. His home was about three miles from the 
Hemenway farm. Besides the Sunday and week-day 
religious meetings and social gatherings, there were 
lyceum meetings and lectures, to bring the neighbors 
together. The village life, which formed the connect- 
ing link between the West Hill and the outside world, 
differed mainly in degree from that already described. 
Chelsea Green supported two churches, a court-house, 
a small academy, and a more compact community. 

Amid the environments already described, began 
that inner life which gives to this biography its chief 
interest. Soon after his fifteenth birthday, Francis 
Hemenway commenced a journal, devoted almost ex- 
clusively to his religious states and feelings. This was 
continued, with slight interruptions, for about five 




24 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



years. Its set phrases for religious things contrast 
strangely with the terse and manly utterances of his 
later life, and are to be attributed to the books of de- 
votion then in vogue, and to language then used in 
relating religious experience, which almost constituted 
a dialect. The journal tells us, in a sort of introduc- 
tion, that the habit of reading the Bible and of daily 
prayer had been early fixed by the instructions of his 
mother. After her death, in his ninth year, he had 
many serious thoughts, and was convinced that he 
ought to become a Christian, but the fear of ridicule 
kept him from open confession. After describing this 
condition of mind, his journal says: 

"Such was the state of my mind when a protracted meeting 
was commenced at this place in February, 1843 ; and while I 
was present one evening, an invitation was given to all who 
felt their need of a Savior to come forward for prayers. I 
immediately rose and went forward, and continued so to do for 
several successive evenings ; and, although I could not specify 
the precise time, place, or even day, yet I felt that in the course 
of the few days, dating from the time I first went forward for 
prayers until the termination of the meeting, a change had 
come over me. St. John says, ' We know we have passed from 
death unto life, because we love the brethren,' and I felt that 
such was my own case; but when I heard others relate the 
wondrous exercises of their mind, and the marvelous change 
instantaneously wrought in them, my mind would revert to 
my own case, to think how different had been my feelings, and 
a doubt as to my genuine conversion would sometimes arise ; 
but I could not see why the apostle spoke of knowing, because 
we love the brethren, if the feelings of all Christians were 
always thus clear. But my feeling towards Christians was not 
the only particular in which I observed a change. I felt that 
I loved religion ; I loved secret prayer ; I loved devotional 
books — those which perhaps would have been the most irk- 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



25 



some to me before, I now delighted in; and, although I did 
not feel so clear in my mind as I wished, yet I felt warranted 
in concluding my conversion real. Yet I had some misgiv- 
ings, lest the change I had noticed might be something short 
of genuine conversion ; and I would sometimes retire, and en- 
deavor to examine myself, and see whether I were in the 
faith or not, and usually after a period of self-examination, I 
felt strengthened and confirmed, though not always fully 
satisfied." 

Believing himself a Christian, he now considered 
the matters of baptism and of uniting with the church. 
At that time the Methodists of that community prac- 
ticed immersion almost as exclusively as the Baptists. 
The ceremony of " going forward in baptism/' as it 
was called, being performed in a pond near the 
church, was somewhat formidable. An opportunity 
of being thus immersed having passed by without his 
knowing it in season, he felt at liberty to postpone 
the act for a time. Thus two years passed, at the end 
of which came the loss of health referred to in the 
first chapter. As his journal says : " It was deeply 
afflicting at this important season of life to be com- 
pelled to remain inactive in body and mind/' Yet 
he sought for the bright side of this providence, and 
found his affliction drawing him nearer to Christ. 

"As by my sickness I was in a measure shut out of the 
world, and worldly sources of enjoyment were cut off, my only 
resource consisted in the smiles of that Friend that sticketh 
closer than a brother, and he did not forsake me. As my dis- 
ease precluded much exercise, either of body or mind, yet did 
not wholly confine me, I was left with no employment which 
might interfere with any regulations I might adopt, and there- 
fore I instituted four stated seasons of secret devotion daily ; 
and I did find true comfort and consolation, in this season of 

3 



26 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



deep affliction, in unbosoming my cares to Him who can 'be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities.' " 

At intervals, perplexing doubts concerning the 
reality of his conversion gave him great trouble. 
Like many young Christians, he feared that his relig- 
ious experience was not genuine, simply because it 
did not correspond to a particular type deemed essen- 
tial by some others, and set up as a standard in his 
own mind. Careful self-examination would reassure 
him that he had really experienced the saving mercy 
of God. The first year of the journal presents an 
affecting picture of this invalid boy, struggling against 
his doubts, and earnestly striving for a higher Chris- 
tian life. On the 7th of January, 1847, he prepared 
and formally signed a written self-dedication. He 
was apparently led to this act by a devotional work 
called " The Convert's Guide," which he found among 
the few books in his father's home. This contains a 
form of self-dedication which is credited to Dodd- 
ridge's " Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," 
but which is really a rearrangement of portions of two 
examples of such covenants given by Doddridge. 
This self-dedication, as Bishop Ninde has said, fur- 
nishes the key to his whole religious life. It is given 
here entire, both for its own sake, and because of the 
profound influence its adoption exerted upon his 
character : 

SELF-DEDICATION. 

''Eternal and unchangeable God, thou great Creator of 
heaven and earth, and Lord of angels and men ! I desire, with 
deepest humiliation and abasement of soul, to fall down in thy 
awful presence, deeply penetrated with a sense of thy glorious 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



27 



perfections. Trembling may well take hold upon me, when I 
presume to lift up my soul to thee on such an occasion as this. 
Who am I, Lord God, or what is my nature and descent, 
my character and desert, that I should speak of this, and be 
one party in the covenant, where thou, King of kings and 
Lord of lords, art the other? But, O Lord, great as is thy maj- 
esty, so is thy mercy. And I know that in and through Jesus 
Christ, the Son of thy love, thou condescendest to visit sinful 
mortals, and to allow their approaching to thee, and their en- 
gaging in covenant with thee ; nay, I know that thou hast in- 
stituted the covenant relation between me and thee, and that 
thou hast graciously sent to propose it to me. I am unworthy 
of thy smallest favors, and having sinned against thee, I have 
forfeited all right of stipulation in my own name, and thank 
fully accept the conditions, which thy infinite wisdom and 
goodness have appointed, as just and right, and altogether 
gracious. 

" And this day do I, with the utmost solemnity and sin- 
cerity, surrender myself to thee, desiring nothing so much as 
to be wholly thine. I renounce all former lords that have had 
dominion over me, and I consecrate to thee all that I am and 
have ; the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my 
worldly possessions, my time, and my influence with others, 
to be all used entirely for thy glory, and resolutely employed 
in obedience to thy commands, as long as thou shalt continue 
my life ; ever holding myself in an attentive posture, to ob- 
serve the first intimations of thy will, and ready with alacrity 
and zeal to execute it, whether it relates to thee, to myself, or 
to my fellow creatures. To thy direction, also, I resign my- 
self, and all I am and have, to be disposed of by thee in such 
manner as thou shalt, in infinite wisdom, judge most for thy 
glory. To thee I leave the management of all events, and say 
without reserve, ' Thy will be done.'' 

" And I hereby resolve to take thee for my supreme good 
and all-sufficient portion ; that I will acknowledge no God but 
thee — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that I will 
depend alone on the mediation of thy dearly beloved Son for 
wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi cation, and redemption. And 
may it please thee, from this day forward, to number me with 



28 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



thy peculiar people. Wash me in the blood of thy dear Son, 
and sanctify me throughout by the power of thy Spirit, that I 
may love thee with all my heart, and serve thee with a will- 
ing mind. Communicate to me, I beseech thee, all needful in- 
fluences of thy purifying, thy cheering, and thy comforting 
Spirit ; and lift up the light of thy countenance upon me, which 
shall put joy and gladness into my soul. And when I shall 
have done and borne thy will upon earth, call me from hence, 
at what time and in what manner thou pleasest ; only grant 
that, in my dying moments and in the near prospect of eter- 
nity, I may remember these, my engagements to thee, and may 
employ my latest breath in thy service ; and do thou, Lord, 
when thou seest the agonies of dissolving nature upon me, re- 
member this covenant, too, even though I should be incapable 
of recollecting it. Look down, O my Heavenly Father, with 
a pitying eye, upon thy languishing, thy dying child ; place 
thy everlasting arms under me for my support ; put strength 
and confidence into my departing spirit, and receive it to the 
embraces of thy everlasting love. Welcome it to the abodes 
of them that sleep in Jesus, to await with them that glorious 
day, when the last of thy promises to thy covenant people 
shall be fulfilled in their resurrection, and to that abundant 
entrance, which shall be ministered to them, into that ever- 
lasting kingdom, of which thou hast assured them by thy cov- 
enant, and in the hope of which I now lay hold on it, design- 
ing to live and die as with my hand upon it. Amen. 

" As a witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand and seal* 
this, the 7th day of January, A. D. 1847. 

Fkancis D. Hemenway." 

On March 16, 1847, he refers again to his distress- 
ing doubts, and says : " Two weeks ago last Saturday, 
while reading Watson's ' Life of Wesley/ I thought 
my present state exactly corresponded to Mr. Wesley's 
before his conversion ; indeed, I never read any man's 
experience that seemed so exactly to correspond with 
mine as Mr. Wesley's. I concluded I was striving to 
become justified by the deeds of the law, or at least 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



29 



by something short of that living faith which is requi- 
site to our justification. I, indeed, was seeking after 
holiness of heart, and even delighted in the law of 
God after the inward man ; but yet I was carnal, sold 
under sin. Since I have concluded this to be my 
state, I have been endeavoring to seek religion by 
faith in the Great Sacrifice for sin, but as yet have 
been unsuccessful. I see I am by nature evil, only 
evil, and that continually, and my only hope of sal- 
vation rests in the merits of the sacrifice of Christ ; 
but yet some accursed thing keeps me back. O, 
Lord, show me Avhat it is, and help my unbelief!" 

On April 25th his troubled heart found expres- 
sion in the following verse of Charles Wesley's — an 
early token of that love for devotional hymns which 
characterized him in later life : 

"O, Love divine, how sweet thou art ! 
When shall I find my willing heart 

All taken up by thee? 
I thirst, I faint, I die, to prove 
The greatness of redeeming love — 

The love of Christ to me." 

On May 16th he says: "I have not as yet at- 
tained to the certain knowledge of my sins forgiven, 
but I intend never to let go my hold until I do ; for 
if I stay here I die, and if I go back I die ; there- 
fore, my only hope is in going forward." In this 
painful condition of mind he continued for months. 
The first light came from religious conversation with 
a good sister in the church, which greatly restored 
his confidence. " She seeemed to be of the opinion," 
he writes, "that I had really experienced religion, 



30 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



and she encouraged me to persevere, for Jesus would 
surely reveal the light of his countenance. Such is 
my intention." 

The following extracts from his diary trace his 
deliverance from this despondent state : 

" July 12. I related some of the exercises of my mind to 
Brother Copeland. He advised me to go forward in the duties 
of a Christian, as I have some evidence that I am a Chris- 
tian, and that it is my sincere and chief desire to be one. For 
some time before, I had felt some misgivings lest, after all, I 
were doubting away the grace of God, and had begun to 
notice some discrepancy between my experience and that of 
Mr. Wesley, the reading of which was the principal occasion 
of the conclusion that I had been the victim of self-deception ; 
while the state of mind he spoke of seemed to be produced by 
religious education, in a great measure at least, I had experi- 
enced a change which did not result wholly from religious 
training. I feel that I do delight in the law of God, that I 
love religion, that I love Christians as such, that sin is hateful 
and holiness pleasing in my sight; but as yet I do not see 
very clearly. 

" July 13. This evening, for the first time in my life, I 
lifted up my voice in social prayer, and felt that the Lord did 
bless me, though the clouds of doubt and unbelief still hovered 
around. How can I be so faithless, when Jesus has loved me 
so well? 

11 July 10. Spent some portion of the day in reading Phil- 
lips's ' Christian Experience,' which served to confirm and 
strengthen me in the faith. The past has been a season of 
bitter trial to me, and I pray that it may not be altogether 
unprofitable. The conclusion that I had been the victim of 
self-deception was indeed a bitter one, and after I arrived at 
it I truly passed through a season of affliction. I had made 
it my constant practice, for more than two years, to observe 
four stated seasons of secret prayer daily; but after I gave 
up the hope that I was a Christian, I more frequently ob- 
served seven or eight each day, than less. My usual prac- 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



31 



tice was to read a portion of Scripture and a hymn before 
prayer, and in so doing, during the season of trial and 
doubt, at my seasons of prayer I read all the penitential 
hymns in our Hymn-book at least twice, and many of them 
eight or ten times, besides many others that I thought par- 
ticularly adapted to my frame of mind. I thank the Lord 
that, although I was thus doubting, his loving-kindness was 
still over me, and he did at last permit me to feel that my feet 
were established on the rock, although as yet I do not see with 
.all the clearness I desire. But my deliverance from this state 
was certainly far different from what I expected. I suppose 
my state of mind concerning this was something like Naaman's, 
for I really thought the Lord would do some great thing; and 
even after I began to think I was really converted and was 
now doubting away the grace of God, I thought the Lord would 
grant me such a clear evidence of my conversion as would 
leave no further room for doubt. But in this I was disap- 
pointed, and I, at last, was obliged to accept that which I had 
once rejected as spurious. I have found that very many 
Christians have been in similar circumstances. 

" August 8. This day I followed my Savior in the divinely 
constituted — but by me long neglected — ordinance of baptism, 
which I received by sprinkling. As I had become fully satis- 
fied that I had been genuinely converted, and, after careful 
examination of the subject, was thoroughly convinced that 
sprinkling was valid baptism, I saw no reason why I should 
not obey the command which says, 'Arise, and be baptized!' 
Immediately after being baptized I partook of the Lord's 
Supper. 

"August 19. Though I feel the evidence of my justifica- 
tion quite clear, yet I want to be holy ; to know, by experi- 
mental knowledge, that the blood of Christ cleanses me from 
all sin." 

This longing for a richer Christian experience 
soon led him to adopt a set of formal rules for the 
regulation of his time and actions. The devotional 
books which he used doubtless suggested this course, 



32 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



and his ill-health gave him the requisite time for 
keeping the rules. Dated August 31st, they are as 
follows: 

"1. I will observe at least five seasons of devotion daily: 
The first immediately after rising, the second at 9 A. M., the 
third at 1 P. M., the fourth at 4 P. M., and the fifth just be- 
fore retiring. 2. I will endeavor to read three chapters, and 
commit at least five verses daily. 3. I am resolved to spend 
at least some portion of each day in self-examination. 4. Re- 
specting my actions — (1) I am resolved to commit no known 
sin ; (2) I will omit no known duty. 5. I am resolved to be 
watchful ; to watch constantly against the enemies of my soul, 
and against all evil thoughts and idle words. And finally, I 
will endeavor, at all times and places and under all circum- 
stances, to observe that rule given by the apostle when he 
says: 'Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye 
do, do all to the glory of God;' and each night, before I re- 
tire, I will call myself to an account respecting the observance 
of these rules. 

" November 28. I would be so perfectly united to Christ 
that his blood may circulate all through me, as the sap of a 
living vine through the branches. I would have such a com- 
munication open between Christ and my heart, as shall en- 
tirely cast out sin from my heart, and exclude it forever." 

Shortly after passing his seventeenth birthday he 
began teaching a district school in the adjoining town 
of Brookfield. An old lady, who remembers him as 
he was at this time, recalls his habit of practicing on 
the bass-viol, and also that she found him one day 
deeply absorbed in reading the " Merry Wives of 
Windsor." He experienced the usual cares and per- 
plexities of a young school-master, yet he recorded, at 
the close of the term, his thankfulness that improving 
health permitted him to engage in the useful activities 
of life. 



EARLY RELIGIOUS LIFE. 



33 



On March 2, 1848, he was received into the church 
in full connection, and a few days afterward, com- 
menced attending school at Chelsea village, which 
boasted a small academy. At his boarding-place, for 
the first time in his life, he enjoys the daily privilege 
of joining in family prayers. He is surprised that 
the class-meetings are so thinly attended, considering 
the large numbers of church members, and does not 
understand how a Methodist can absent himself from 
this invaluable means of grace. He says: "If I 
know my own heart, my desire is for religion, and 
the blessings it confers, in preference to any and all 
other blessings." At the close of this term, he speaks 
of it as the first term, for three years, which he has 
attended without injury to his health. 

In an entry, dated May 23d, he speaks of reading 
the rules which he had adopted, and finds that they 
have been too much neglected. He still intends to 
carry out their spirit, though he may not be able to 
follow them to the letter. During this summer he 
had his first experience of an annual conference. On 
Sunday, July 9th, he listened to a sermon by Bishop 
Hedding, from 1 Timothy iv, 10. He says: "The 
bishop gave a brief but interesting history of his life, as 
far as his conversion and the commencement of his 
ministry were concerned, and then proceeded to his 
discourse, from what he said was the first text he ever 
used." The boy-critic adds: "His remarks were 
sound and weighty, and characterized by much 
mental acumen." No one could enjoy this bit of 
patronizing criticism more than the author of it in 
his later life. 



34 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



The following entry marks a most important 
epoch, as it gives the first intimation of his desire for 
a thorough education, and of his thoughts concerning 
the ministry : 

" August 3. I am highly favored this summer with respect 
to my health, so that I am able to study considerably, and 
engage in light manual labor to some extent. I regard it my 
privilege and duty to acquire a good education, should circum- 
stances permit, and for this I am striving daily. I know not 
what employment my Lord will assign me in future life, but 
I frequently look forward with some anxiety, and perhaps 
with vain conjectures. My mind has been frequently directed 
toward the holy ministry; but I almost fear it is sacrilege to 
indulge a thought concerning it, believing, as I do, that it 
should not be entered by human caprice, but only by a special 
divine call. I have sometimes tried to forbid my mind to 
dwell on this subject, but I can not." 

In the autumn of 1848 he taught in the old school- 
house on the West Hill, where he had received his 
own earlier education. He expresses profound grati- 
tude that he has health to engage in purposes of use- 
fulness. In the winter of the same year he taught 
again in Brookfield. 



AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 



85 



CHAPTER IV. 

SCHOOL-DAYS AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 
1848-1853. 

WE have seen that at eighteen years of age Fran- 
cis Hemenway had improved health, an in- 
creasing desire for a thorough education, and serious 
thoughts concerning a call to the ministry. His 
teaching, to procure the means for a higher educa- 
tion, was in accordance with the custom of the time. 
Tradition has preserved a significant incident of this 
early apprenticeship as teacher. The big boys in one 
of the schools, hearing a rumor that the new master 
was intending to open the morning session with 
prayer, leagued together to make a disturbance; but 
the young teacher's prayer was so manly, tender, and 
appropriate that the plot was at once abandoned. 

The spring of 1849 introduced him into a larger 
world, whose influences were potent in developing 
his character and talents, and shaping his future. 
At that time he entered the conference seminary at 
Newbury. 1 Both the place and the school became 
very dear to him. The village itself possesses rare 
charms. Built upon a high terrace of the Connecti- 
cut, its long street follows the direction of the river, 
while two shorter streets, at right angles, mark out 
the village green. On the west side of this common 



36 



BIO GRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



stand the seminary building and the Methodist 
church, back of which rises the steep side of Mount 
Pulaski. The view eastward is one of the fairest in 
all picturesque New England. Beyond the quiet 
hamlet are spread broad and fertile meadows, through 
which the Connecticut sweeps in a series of graceful 
curves. Wooded hills across the river reveal here 
and there a prosperous village, while along the east- 
ern horizon extends a range of noble mountains, from 
the ragged outlines of Lafayette, on the north, to 
Moosilauke, lifting his gigantic shoulders in massive 
and magnificent beauty on the south. Without ques- 
tioning the wisdom of the subsequent removal of the 
seminary to Montpelier, no Methodist can fail to re- 
gret the necessity of 'abandoning this charming place, 
which, in summer at least, is little less than an earthly 
paradise. The seminary, attracting students at that 
time both from New Hampshire and Vermont, was 
in a very prosperous condition. "If there is any 
happy combination of circumstances on earth," wrote 
the young student, " calculated to assist our concep- 
tion of heaven, it is surely to be found at Newbury." 
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. King, now at the head oi 
Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, was principal, and 
the late Professor Henry S. Noyes was one of the 
teachers. The buildings and other appliances of the 
seminary would seem meager now ; but the men in 
charge, from its beginning, had fixed a high standard 
both of scholarship and piety. Enthusiasm for edu- 
cation and religion pervaded the place. Besides that 
of men already mentioned, it had felt the inspiring 
influence of Osmon C. Baker, Charles Adams, John 



AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 



37 



Dempster, and Clark T. Hinrnan, who had established 
here in 1845 the first theological school of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, which, two years later, was 
removed to Concord, N'. H. The ardent and heroic 
spirit of pioneer days animated both teachers and 
students. Almost every term witnessed a revival of 
religion, in which many students were converted and 
the Christian workers were trained for future service. 
Two entries in his journal show the purposes with 
which Francis began his life here, and the impres- 
sion which this large company of Christian young 
people made upon him : 

" February 26, 1849. I have come to Newbury to spend 
the spring term at the seminary. I expect to enjoy many 
privileges — educational and religious — and I pray that this 
may be a season of improvement in every way, that in all 
things I may grow up into Christ my living Head." 

" March 1. Attended the seminary class-meeting, where a 
very large number was assembed. How delightful to see so 
many young people who are willing to take upon themselves 
the yoke of Christ!" 

Amid these new scenes and influences his own re- 
ligious life is greatly quickened. He records hearing 
" an excellent and moving discourse on Zech. xii, 10, 
by Professor Hinman," from which he expects abun- 
dant fruit. The next Sunday he goes from public 
service to the band-meeting, and thence to prayer- 
meeting. At the last, nine came forward for prayers. 
This was on the first of April. On the third, nine 
more rose for prayers ; on the eighth, twelve ; on the 
fifteenth, seven or eight. On the sixteenth of May 
he wrote : " The work of revival in the seminary still 



38 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



continues." To one who loved both religion and 
study ardently these surroundings "were most con- 
genial; and amid them he increased in wisdom "and 
in favor with God and man." 

In the summer vacation he expressed to his pastor 
thoughts concerning his life-work which he had be- 
fore committed to no other confidant than his journal. 
The subject of the ministry, he said, had, at times, 
pressed with great weight upon his mind. Mr. Hill 
assured him that it had been his impression, and that 
of others in the church, that he was divinely called 
to that work. 

The autumn of 1849 was spent at Newbury in 
study, and the winter at Williamstown in teaching. 
The following entry describes his final decision with 
regard to his life-work. The meeting referred to was 
held in the old parsonage at Williamstown : 

" January 13, 1850. I have had deep anxiety for a long 
time with regard to the ministry, to which I have before al- 
luded, and I set apart last week for especial prayer on that 
subject, if by any meaus I might obtain satisfactory light 
with regard to my duty. I have long entertained the impres- 
sion that it would be my calling, and that it was my present 
duty to prepare for it, but as yet I was unsatisfied with regard 
to it. In this state of mind I remained until to-night, though 
seeming gradually to approach an affirmative decision. I 
went to the meeting praying for some convincing manifesta- 
tion of duty. I had not long been there before I began to 
feel the especial workings of the Spirit, while, at the same 
time, this subject came up before me. Soon it assumed the 
aspect of present duty, and, regarding it as such, I commenced 
mentally an act of personal dedication. I was interrupted by 
the singing of the hymn, 'When for the eternal worlds,' etc., 
which seemed as a celestial voice. Again I dedicated myself, 
which done, they sang the verse, ' Prone to wander,' etc., 



AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 39 

every word of which was in harmony with my feelings. Thus, 
by this act, am I the Lord's in an especial sense. May I draw 
still closer to him !" 

In March he was again at Newbury, where the 
spring term was marked by another revival. In May 
he had his first experience in leading class, of which 
he quaintly says : " Contrary to reasonable human 
expectation, I had a tolerably good season." 

On June 16th he attended the Sabbath exercises 
of the conference at Bradford. He describes the 
conference love-feast and the testimonies of the vet- 
eran ministers with delighted enthusiasm. He heard 
Bishop Morris preach in the grove " a very instruct- 
ive and practical discourse from the text, ' Cease to 
do evil/" 

During the winter vacation of 1850-51 Mr. Hem- 
enway traveled through Orange County, introducing 
a new series of text-books into the schools. His jour- 
nal was neglected, and the regularity of his religious 
exercises interrupted, yet he found this new mode of 
life not unfavorable to religious experience. 

On February 13th he records his recommendation 
by the class for an exhorter's license. The following 
entries describe his first experiences as a preacher: 

" What a solemn thing it is to stand between God and 
man ! I have consented to speak to the people Tuesday night 
before I leave for Newbury. May it be in simplicity, and as- 
sisted by the Holy Spirit's influence ! 

" February 18. Found an unexpectedly large number 
assembled, to whom I had a good degree of liberty in speak- 
ing, and am sure, by the united prayers of the praying ones, 
the presence of the Most High overshadowed us. Many ap- 
peared affected. Three rose for prayers. May this first seed,, 
sown in tears and weakness, produce abundant fruit!" 



40 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



A friend, who was present at this latter service, 
remembers that he gave out as the first hymn, " Sol- 
diers of the Cross, arise," which he started himself 
to the tune of " Caledonia." 

Once more he returns to Newbury for his last 
term as a student there. On March 23d he preached 
his first Sabbath sermon at North Haverhill, from the 
text, " The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous 
man availeth much." He says: "It was to me a 
memorable time, and also a good time." The Rev. 
Mr. Cushing was with him. The next Sunday he 
consented to " improve a part of the day " at Swift- 
borough, where he had more freedom and less embar- 
rassment than before. The next Sabbath he preached 
at South Newbury, with special freedom, which he at- 
tributed to two causes: " 1. I was enabled to resign 
myself more implicitly into the hands of God, and 
rely more fully on his power. 2. My subject was 
better matured and more familiar." 

The term passed pleasantly. He enjoyed the 
work in school, and apparently even more his Sab- 
bath labors in the little churches and school-houses 
of the vicinity. Throughout his school-days at New- 
bury he maintained high rank as a talented and in- 
dustrious student. He was one of those selected by 
the authorities for occasional service as tutor. The 
reputation achieved at the home lyceum as a speaker 
and writer was increased at the seminary. When 
he finished his course at Newbury in May, 1851, 
he left with an enviable record and with sincere 
regret. 

The following summer was spent at home. His 



AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 



41 



journal shows that he preached several times, and 
with increasing enjoyment. The part he took in a 
Fourth of July celebration of the Lyceum caused him 
some uneasiness, " because of the prejudice which is 
abroad in this immediate vicinity against literary so- 
cieties and every thing connected with them." He 
adds : " I fully believe it to be a Christian's duty to % 
deny himself sometimes, in view of the consciences 
of his brethren ; but in this matter, after looking at 
it carefully and considering my obligations to all 
classes, it did not seem that any departure from my 
own ideas of right and propriety was required." 
August 29th he left home to teach in Waitsfield, and 
wrote: "I shall not probably return to it again until, 
in a certain sense, it shall cease to be my home. I 
love my home, passionately love it." 

After preaching for the first time in Waitsfield, 
he says : " There are a thousand sources of uneasiness 
as I appear before a public congregation ; but the 
greatest is lest, for some reason, my ministry should 
not be efficient — lest, by some apparent inconsistency 
which may have been seen in me, the word should 
be neutralized, and fail of producing its legitimate 
effect. I pray that I may be holy, discreet, entirely 
freed from everything which would operate, in any 
manner, as a hindrance to the word of God." 

In October he received news of the death of his 
intimate friend and former room-mate, A. K. Carter. 
Obliged to go immediately to the school-room, he 
gave out the hymn : 

" 0, what is life ? 
'Tis like a flower that blossoms and is gone," 

4 



42 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



" to be sung to that favorite tune of mine, Stepney. " 
He says of this friend : " From our first meeting our 
sympathies, secrets, and hearts seemed to flow spon- 
taneously together. We were bound together by the 
strongest and most sacred ties of sanctified friend- 
ship. Had he lived he would most certainly, it seems 
to me, have become a minister of great usefulness." 

On his twenty-first birthday he reviews his bless- 
ings and anticipates the future : 

" I am oftentimes tempted to despond, yet as often en- 
couraged to hope. From the responsibilities which may prob- 
ably devolve upon me in future, should I live, I ofttimes 
shrink, yet the promise is always available: 'My grace is 
sufficient for thee.' May I be sanctified and fully prepared 
for all the will of God ! If I know my own heart, my ambi- 
tion is not to be great nor honored nor famous, but to be 
just what the Lord would have me be. O that I may be 
able to acknowledge the Lord in all my ways, that he may 
direct my paths !" 

He was recalled to teach the winter district school 
at Waitsfield, and received no little discipline him- 
self in this work, which tests about all one's powers 
of ingenuity and endurance. He had forty scholars, 
and over thirty exercises a day. One morning he 
was caMed from the school-room to see a young man 
who was lying upon his death-bed. The conversion 
of this man stirred him profoundly, and he preached 
his funeral sermon with deep emotion and " unusual 
liberty." 

In a letter of December 16, 1851, he asks of a dear 
friend : " Do you think it best, all things considered, 
for me to go to Concord in the spring?' 7 In Janu- 
nary, 1852, he wrote to the Rev. Justin Spaulding, 



AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 



43 



asking advice on this matter. The letter describing 
the correspondence says: 

" He knows something about me and almost everything 
about the Methodist itinerancy. He himself is a self-made 
man, yet a close student. He gives his decided opinion in 
favor of entering the Institute, and assigns seven reasons, the 
substance of which is: In order for one to be prepared to ful- 
fill the mission of the Methodist minister, one must possess a 
cultivated intellect, a mind prepared to meet and grapple with 
the various engines which Satan may use to advance his work, 
a mind furnished w r ith knowledge which shall answer to the 
present improved state of society. The opportunities for that 
close, consecutive study which alone can make us what we 
should be are very small on a circuit or station. He also 
noticed the objection that an educated ministry will be a 
proud and lazy ministry, urging, in answer, that the most 
humble and active ministers in the Church have been the best 
educated. I have not, as yet, reconsidered that question, but 
do not know but I shall to-morrow. Pray for me, that the 
Lord, by his counsel, may guide me. I have just commenced 
reading Upham's ' Interior Life,' of which, perhaps, you may 
have heard me speak. Already my soul burns more ardently 
for holiness. I am daily convinced that I know too little of the 
deep things of God to be prepared to explain them properly 
to others." 

His presiding elder strenuously opposed his going 
to the Biblical Institute, yet, influenced by Mr. Spaul- 
ding's sensible advice, and his own high ideal of a 
minister's requirements, he decided to take a theolog- 
ical course. The first of March, 1852, found him in 
Concord. A letter describes his first meeting with. 
Dr. Dempster : 

" Concord, March 2, 1852. Arriving at this place a perfect 
stranger, as I was, I had myself driven immediately to the In- 
stitute boarding-house, where I found a Brother Moore in 
charge. He directed me to Dr. Dempster. I went and rang 



44 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



the bell at his door, and was conducted by a young lady into 
the sitting-room, where she left me, telling me she would call 
Dr. Dempster, who would soon be in. I was alone, awaiting with 
palpitating heart the appearance of the great Dr. Dempster, 
whom I had imagined to be not only great in mind and name, 
but in body too. I was expecting to see a large, bland, portly- 
looking Doctor of Divinity. Imagine, then, my surprise when 
a small, quite ordinary-looking man, dressed in the plainest 
and oldest style, appeared, calling himself Dr. Dempster. He 
received me very cordially, and gave me all the information 
necessary for me." 

He describes the Institute as located " in a retired 
part of the village, entirely removed from the noise 
and bustle, yet situated at the head of the two prin- 
cipal streets, and especially convenient of access to 
all parts of the village." The lofty elm-trees lining 
the streets are a great attraction. We may get a 
glimpse of him at work. He says : " Improvement 
is now with me the paramount aim." On April 15, 
1852, he writes : 

"Since I last wrote I have been at work with all my 
might taking in pieces the Hebrew and Greek languages, and 
dissecting Butler's and Watson's Theology, so that I am now 
almost covered with rubbish. In Greek we are reading the 
Gospels harmonized; in Hebrew we are now in the third 
chapter of Genesis. We have been translating Hebrew but a 
short time, yet I think it is quite an easy language, although 
its characters appear so unintelligible. In theology we have 
a lecture one day and recite the next. Dr. Dempster is now 
delivering a course of lectures on the connection of geology 
with revelation. His last was respecting the universality of 
the Flood. He takes the negative position. 

"I preached last Sabbath to an Orthodox* congregation 



-Some readers may not know that in New England "Orthodox" 
is commonly used to distinguish the Trinitarian from the Unitarian 
Congvegationalists. 



AT NEWBURY AND CONCORD. 



45 



in an Orthodox meeting-house in Loudon, about seven miles 
from this place. The Lord was with me. I had a blessed 
season. I am to go there next Sabbath. My turn will come 
to preach before the school two weeks from to-morrow, at 
nine o'clock. Let me then have an especial interest in your 
prayers." 

He leads a class in the village, and preaches fre- 
quently in Concord, Barnstead, Hookset, and other 
neighboring towns. This work he enjoys more and 
more. 

" It is blessed to feel that we are accomplishing the im- 
portant work of the evangelist. I mean not merely to go 
through the formality of preaching, and contemplate a de- 
lighted congregation hanging upon your words, if by chance 
it should be so, but to know that God is sending out his 
word through you, with the certain promise that 1 it shall ac- 
complish that whereunto it is sent.' 

" June 19, 1852. I am enjoying myself very greatly here 
this summer. I have plenty of work, agreeable companions, 
convenient accommodations, and the blessing of God. I 
have but a single object in view in all my labors, — immediately, 
my preparation for the work of the ministry; ultimately, the 
glory of God ; and while I have the evidence that this end is 
being answered, I can not but feel satisfied. I am thankful 
that I ever came to Concord ; that, green as I was, I did not 
conclude to take upon myself immediately the responsibility 
of performing the work of the Christian minister. 

In writing of his theological instructors he speaks 
of Professor Baker as "a modest, quiet, easy, good- 
natured, corpulent man, but a most rigid Greek 
teacher." Professor Vail " is considered a Hebrew 
scholar of the highest order." Dr. Dempster " is a 
man full of thought, and is very suggestive in all his 
teaching. In the department of mental and moral 
science he is the greatest man I ever knew." As to 



46 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



the students, though "there must of necessity, among 
a company of forty human beings, be some things to 
which the fastidious might take exceptions," yet he 
is convinced that the fears concerning a decline in 
religion among theological students are baseless, and 
that the "sacred fire does burn here in its purity." 
He boards in a club, and gives the assessment for one 
week as one dollar and sixty-one cents. In August 
he listens to lectures on the Discipline by Professor 
Baker, already elected bishop, and performing his 
last service in the Institute. 

By November he has received a temporary ap- 
pointment at Pittsfield, and begun his first pastoral 
experience. He feels an " especial sense of weak- 
ness" in making pastoral calls, and yet believes that 
"at least half of the preacher's work lies in this di- 
rection." The winter passed pleasantly and success- 
fully, and in the spring he returned to Concord. 

In May, of 1853, at the Conference which met at 
Newport, X. H., he heard an excellent sermon from 
Bishop Janes; and from Abel Stevens a speech, 
w r hich he had "rarely, if ever, heard equaled." His 
topic was " The Tract Cause," and, in response, over 
§1,200 were pledged by the preachers for themselves 
and their charges. 

He now has applications for preaching which 
would fill all his Sabbaths two or three times over, 
and finally arranges to preach regularly at Hill and 
Barnstead. In June he is present at a musical con- 
vention, conducted by Lowell Mason. A letter writ- 
ten this summer indicates two prominent traits, which 
all his students will remember. It speaks of his 



AT NEW B UR Y AND CONCORD. 47 



" love for perspicuity and systematic arrangement," 
and discusses the proper pronunciation of " Goethe." 

In July he attended the Commencement exercises 
at Dartmouth College. 

"Wednesday morning last took the cars for Hanover — 
Dartmouth College. . . . The 'natives' had already begun 
to assemble, so that when we arrived the peddlers' carts, vic- 
tualing tents, and 'congregated thousands' told, in language 
unmistakable, that Hanover was realizing a signal day. The 
announcement that the Hon. Eufus Choate would speak on 
that day had called together an unusually large number to at- 
tend the exercises. As the exercises were not to commence 
till 9.30, after seeking out my special friends, I went with them 
to visit the curiosities of the college cabinet, libraries, etc. 
Quite interesting. At 9.30 the procession was formed at the 
college chapel to march to the church, where the first address 
was to be delivered. Falling into the procession, as all 'pro- 
fessional gentlemen' and ' distinguished guests ' were requested 
to do, after more jamming than I ever before suffered in the 
same length of time, I succeeded in entering the church. A 
very good address was then delivered by Hon. Ogden Hoffman, 
of New York. At 3.20 P. M. a procession was again formed, to 
be conducted to the church. Never before have I seen such 
a press to gain admission. A very strong police force had to 
exert itself to the utmost to prevent the people from rushing 
in en masse even before the 'dignitaries' were admitted. Mr. 
Choate spoke between two and three hours. Subject, ' Eulogy 
on Daniel Webster.' The elocution and oratory were good; 
but Webster, mere man as he was, was almost deified. 

" Thursday was the regular day for the graduation exer- 
cises. Between twenty and thirty young men spoke. About 
fifty graduated. The exercises were quite interesting — more 
so to me, as a whole, than those of the day before. 

" Some distinguished guests were present at the exercises — 
Hon. John Wentworth, of Illinois, commonly called ' Long 
John' (seven feet in his stockings), Dr. Mussey, Rev. Dr. 
Barstow, and others too numerous to mention. I saw quite 
a large number of the old Newbury students." 



48 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



In October he visited an Adventist camp-meet- 
ing, which appears to him " a sickening exhibition of 
the fruit of ignorance." The same month he writes : 
" What do you think of my going West next year ? 
The Doctor [Dempster] is going out to the college of 
which he is president, and wishes me to go with 
him. The W r est is a great field, you know. Would 
it not be just the place for me ?" 

With ten others, he graduated from the Concord 
Institute in 1853. As the Institute afterwards be- 
came the School of Theology of the Boston Uni- 
versity, he is, in this sense, an alumnus of that school. 
His graduating address was on "The Imperishable 
Record." In this he said : 

" The true testimonial of the faithful minister is not to be 
sought in the favorable notices of public journals, nor the 
popular voice concerning him, nor even in the reported con- 
versions, so ardently coveted. His true record is found in the 
hearts and characters which he is instrumental in molding 
into the image of the heavenly. Happy shall he be who 
shall so unite in his character human excellence with divine 
grace, that he shall be able to produce upon plastic yet im- 
mortal natures impressions so true and beautiful that he can 
confidently appeal to them before the judgment-seat of the 
Omniscient One." 



PASTORATE AT MONTPELIER. 49 



CHAPTER V. 

PASTORATE AT MONTPELIER. 
1854-1857. 

PROBABLY the majority of young men who have 
thus far been educated for the Methodist minis- 
try, have had no clearly defined boundary between 
school-life and the pastorate. Apprenticeship in 
preaching and pastoral work has been interwoven 
with academical and theological training. This course 
has both advantages and perils, but the former prob- 
ably preponderate. The experience gained by the 
young preacher in school-houses and little churches, 
the practical knowledge of work and people acquired 
in actual service, is of inestimable value. However 
exact scholarship may be impeded, there is, ordi- 
narily, an increase of zeal for useful discipline and 
available acquisition. The temptations lie in the di- 
rection of a low ideal of preaching, a failure to com- 
plete one's course- of study, or of superficial work in 
the theological school. Mr. Hemenway yielded to 
none of these. Although he graduated in the autumn 
of 1853, he returned to Concord in the spring of 
1854, to complete some studies which had been inter- 
rupted by enforced absences. 

During the winter of 1853-4 he served as pas- 
toral supply at Shelburne Falls, in northwestern 



50 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



Massachusetts. The Methodist church in this pic- 
turesque and prosperous manufacturing village, was 
regarded an important one. It had formerly enjoyed 
the ministrations of the Rev. William Butler, who 
became afterwards the founder of Methodist missions 
in India and Mexico. The outgoing pastor, an able 
and eloquent man, had been convicted of untruthful- 
ness, and suddenly left the Methodist ministry. His 
defection had naturally thrown a shadow over the 
congregation. The young pastor found "the church 
and people quite a burden for a boy to carry." His 
letters, though very modest, contain abundant proof 
that he won the admiration and love of the people. 
They gave him substantial gifts, and urged him to 
remain as their regular pastor. He writes: "I used 
to think of the pastoral visiting as an unpleasant 
work, but I find it quite the reverse. In the sick- 
room, especially, our religion shines with a superadded 
luster." 

In February, 1854, he received an invitation to 
become teacher of Greek and Latin in a seminary 
in Fulton, N. Y. About the first of March, though 
urged by presiding elder and people to remain at 
Shelburne Falls, he steadfastly adhered to his resolu- 
tion to complete his studies at Concord. He found 
awaiting him there an invitation to join the New 
England conference, from the Rev. Amos Binney, 
presiding elder of the Charlestown district. " So 
you see," he writes, " that if the calls of the church 
are the calls of God, his kingdom is divided against 
itself. There are openings enough, and there is work 
enough. The greatest point is grace and ability to 



PASTORATE AT MONTPELIER. 



51 



do it." A letter written to an invalid friend at this 
time contains this characteristic passage : " I think it 
my province to proclaim Scripture to you. ' Be careful 
for nothing.' Live as though to live now was all your 
business. Have no providence for the future, except 
what you have in that very thing; i. e., living care- 
lessly. I know living so may not seem to consist 
with one's interests religiously or intellectually, but 
it may do both. When that course of life becomes a 
duty, and is allowed as such, it will not harm us in 
any regard." 

April 15, 1854, he writes: "I have, this very 
morning, had a long talk with Bishop Baker with 
reference to my further course for one or two years. 
He decidedly advises me to join conference, as the 
first course ; of the others, I '11 tell you when I see 
you. Doctor Dempster, on the other hand, wishes 
me to go West, and take a place, or as he calls it, a 
' chair/ in an institution there. Of course it will be 
my privilege to ' decide, when doctors disagree/ My 
present opinion is that the chances are in favor of my 
teaching for a year or two, and that the place will be 
west of Vermont, though the question still hangs ' in 
even scale.' " 

The summer of '54 was spent in preaching and 
study, and in visiting friends in Chelsea, Pittsfield, 
Barre, and other places. The first of September 
found him at Newbury seminary in the position of a 
teacher. The work was intended to be temporary 
only, and rendered advisable on account of his health, 
which work and study had somewhat impaired. There 
were two hundred and seventy-five students, and he 



52 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



taught arithmetic, grammar, algebra, geometry, men- 
tal philosophy, reading, Latin, and Greek. In 

writing about the teachers, he said : " Miss 

has n J t quite enough sparkle about her to render her- 
self available to the fullest extent. What a desirable 
quality of character is assurance — not that which pro- 
duces forwardness, but that which enables us to rest 
easily in the right place ! Energy, vivacity, and de- 
cision, as it seems to me, depend very much upon 
confidence as a basis. Prof. Taverner, * a distin- 
guished teacher of elocution, has been with us for the 
last two days. His terms are very high — twenty dol- 
lars for a course of private lessons, and two dollars 
and a half for admission to his class." 

The letters indicate that Mr. Hemenway preached 
almost every Sunday in neighboring towns. But 
more interesting than teaching or preaching*were the 
plans and arrangements for his approaching marriage 
to Miss Sarah L. Bixby, of Chelsea. They had now 
been formally engaged for four years; but when their 
attachment began it would have been difficult for 
either of them to have told. The families had long 
been neighbors and friends. As children they had 
gone together to the old school-house, and to the 
meeting-house on the hill. Miss Bixby's father had 
been Francis Hemenway's class-leader and spiritual 
adviser for years. The two young people had also 
been at Newbury as students together. Companion- 



* This unique, peripatetic teacher, a philosopher in the science of 
reading, was at Evanston as late as 1884, but has since died. Probably 
no man ever gave instruction in elocution to so many and so distin- 
guished ministers. 



BASTORATE AT MONTPELIER. 53 



ship, sympathy in the best things, and friendship, 
gradually ripened into a devoted love, which proved 
the greatest of earthly blessing to both, and endured 
all tests. The one shadow which darkened these 
bright days is described in a letter dated October 
27, 1854. After speaking of the beauties of the Oc- 
tober scenery, he says: " Our community was very 
much saddened, one week ago, by a telegraphic dis- 
patch announcing the death of the Rev. Dr. Hinman, 
president-elect of the North-western University, of 
which Brother Noyes is chosen one of the professors. 
His funeral was attended here Tuesday. Bishop 
Baker preached the sermon. The four teachers were 
bearers. It was a very solemn time." October 
31st he left Newbury for Concord, to attend the first 
alumni reunion of the Concord Institute. 

On the 19th of November, 1854, the long-antici- 
pated marriage ceremony was performed, in the West 
Hill meeting-house, by the Rev. Elisha J. Scott, then 
presiding elder of the district. The young couple 
established their home in pleasant rooms in the sem- 
inary boarding-house at Newbury. During a pil- 
grimage, last summer, to the scenes of Dr. Hem- 
enway's early life, the writer spent some days in 
Newbury, and stopped in this building, which has 
now been transformed into Sawyer's Hotel, a cool 
and attractive summer hotel, and, by a strange coin- 
cidence, was assigned to these very rooms, the most 
pleasant in the whole house. Here began a home- 
life which ever seemed to him, and the nearest friends 
who knew its beauty, as near the highest ideal as 
can be hoped for this side heaven. But happy lives 



54 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



and the steady monotony of faithful school duties, 
however significant and influential, afford little mate- 
rial for historian or biographer. 

The next spring brought an important change. 
May 28, 1855, he writes from Plainfield, where the 
Vermont conference is in session, as follows: 

"The appointments are to be read at five o'clock. . . . 
I suppose the die is now cast ! My appointment you will find, 
among others, upon the inclosed slip.* It can not be more 
surprising to you than it is to me ; and it is in spite of my 
personal remonstrance, which I had never expected to ex- 
press, that I am stationed there. Still, now it is done, and 
can not be remedied, I see much that is desirable about it. 
You remember the pretty parsonage, and know what a pleas- 
ant home it may be for our first. Quite a number of the people 
have expressed themselves in favor of the arrangement, or, 
in other words, petitioned for me." 

The appointment of Mr. Hemenway to the State 
capital was unwelcome to the seminary. Professor 
Noyes did " not know how to have it so. 7 ' A letter 
to Bishop Ames is contemplated to break up the ar- 
rangement; but it is a fixed fact, and irrevocable. 
Though feeling deeply the separation and the added 
responsibilities, he writes to his wife : " Let us look 
to the bright future. I shall have more time to 
devote to Biblical and theological study than here- 
tofore. " 

The story of the two years' pastorate at Montpe- 
lier must be briefly told. Nature, discipline, and 
divine grace had now made him a preacher and pas- 
tor of rare attractiveness. His sermons were clear- 
cut, interesting, helpful, and inspiring. Congrega- 



* Montpelier, Vt. 



PASTORATE AT MONTPEL IER. 



55 



tions increased, the church was quickened, and souls 
were saved. By his manliness, sympathy, and holy 
character he won the respect of all classes in the 
community, and the warm affection of those to 
whom he ministered. He devoted himself with ar- 
dent enthusiasm to his work in study, pulpit, and 
parish. A letter, written from Montpelier in Feb- 
ruary, 1889, bears testimony to the results of these 
labors : 

" His was surely a marked pastorate in the history of this 
church. There are not a few living still who can bear witness 
to the wealth and beauty of the intellectual treasures he lav- 
ished upon this people, and the great spiritual power which 
emanated from his life. Some remember, with a gratitude too 
deep for words, his influence while here, and the proofs of his 
continued interest given long afterward. One of our recent 
pastors said, in alluding to Dr. Hemenway, whom he never 
personally knew, that the fruits of his ministry could still be 
seen here after the lapse of so many years." # 

A notable event in the home-life at Montpelier 
was the birth of the first child, a son, born December 
20, 1856, and named Henry Bixby. New springs 
of thought and feeling were thus opened in the 
father's nature, enriching his own life and greatly in- 
creasing his usefulness. 

In one respect only was the young pastor unsuited 
for the work before him. He had not that robust 
health which is almost essential to great success in a 
city pastorate. And the work was very taxing. The 
ordinary Sunday services began with preaching at 
half-past ten in the morning. This was followed im- 
mediately by the Sunday-school, at which the pastor's 
presence was desired and most desirable. There was 



56 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



preaching again at half-past one. In the evening, at 
early candle-light, there was held a mammoth prayer- 
meeting, for which special preparation was necessary, 
and which brought no small strain to the tired pas- 
tor's nerves. In the winter many members of the 
legislature were constant attendants upon his minis- 
try, and the house was generally packed with hear- 
ers. It was a successful pastorate, but the success 
was dearly bought. A few such victories would 
have utterly ruined his health. He completed 
the full term, but felt obliged to ask a location at 
its close, that he might look about for less taxing 
work. 

Two testimonials to his great service to his people 
will be appropriate here. The first is a selection from 
some verses contributed to a local paper. They are 
presented, not as poetry, but as a hearty and worthy 
expression of the impression made by his early min- 
istry. They were written by the daughter of a lead- 
ing member of the Church, a former student at 
Newbury : 

" Youth's fair light was on his forehead, 

Genius flashing from his eye, 
And the hopes of early manhood 

In his heart were beating high. 
Not a worn and weary soldier, 

With the battle almost done ; 
But a young, fresh-hearted warrior, 

All his trophies yet unwou. 

God had lent him brilliant talents, 
Which could charm the listening throng ; 

Worldly paths had often wooed him 
With their wildering, siren song; 



PASTORATE AT MONTPELIER. 57 



But lie laid each fond ambition 

Lowly at the sacred cross, 
Heeding not Fame's proffered laurels, 

Boldly 'counting all things loss.' 

Words of life seem doubly precious, 

Falling from his hallowed tongue, 
And rich treasures of affection 

From his people hath he won. 
He is with us when our loved ones, 

Earth-tired, sink to dreamless sleep, 
And in those dark, trying moments 

He can ' weep with those that weep.' 

Walking close with God, he leadeth 

Tenderly his little flock, 
Pointing, when the storm-clouds gather, 

To the 1 Shadow of the Kock.' 
Faithfully he does his mission, 

Faltering never by the way, 
Knowing a reward awaits him 

In the land of cloudless day. 

Let us then, when, morn and evening, 

Bending low to breathe our prayer, 
Ask for him, our youthful pastor, 

Our Good Father's kindly care ; 
That life's harvest-field may yield him 

Golden sheaves, a rich reward, 
And at last a crown of glory — 

A 'forever with the Lord.'" 

But no biography of a Methodist minister would 
be complete without a view of his gifts and graces 
from the stand-point of one of his presiding elders. 
Under the date of July 24, 1857, the Rev. Elisha J. 
Scott, presiding elder of the Montpelier district, 

5 



58 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



wrote to a leading member of the East Genesee con- 
ference : 

"Understanding that the Rev. F. D. Hemenway, late a 
member of the Vermont conference, proposes to offer himself 
for readmission into the traveling connection in the East Gen- 
esee conference, I feel it a privilege, no less than a duty, to 
furnish you such a representation of him as shall enable you 
to introduce him fairly and truly to your conference. Brother 
Hemenway is believed to be deeply and uniformly pious, and 
possessed of intellectual powers which entitle him to rank 
among the first young men in the country. Indeed, he exhib- 
its a rare ripeness, intellectually, for one of his age. His mind 
has been thoroughly and extensively trained. He is a scholar 
in the best sense of the word. It may properly be said that 
he has a liberal education, though not a collegiate. He has 
passed through the prescribed course of studies in our General 
Biblical Institute, and graduated with its highest honors. He 
does not regard his education as finished, however, but is an 
ardent student — perhaps too much so for his delicate constitu- 
tion. His talents as a preacher are of a superior order. Sound 
in doctrine, clear and eloquent in its enunciation, and pleasing 
in style and manner, he can hardly fail to be popular. The 
two years last past he has spent in this place, as you are aware, 
and to say he has been highly esteemed and universally be- 
loved but feebly expresses the real position he holds among us. 
Many deeply regret, and none more than myself, that our 
law does not allow him to remain longer. The conference 
consented to his location, with a view to his removal from us, 
with extreme reluctance. Nothing but a belief that a milder 
climate, and especially that your system of ministerial work 
would contribute to his health, and thus promise a loDger 
period of active service to the church, reconciles us at all to 
his removal. We need many just such men in Vermont. He 
is a man to be trusted anywhere. Whatever he does is well 
done. 

" Trusting that you will pardon this volunteer representa- 
tion, I am," etc. 

From a letter, written several years later to an 
intimate friend in Montpelier, we get a satisfactory 



PASTORATE AT MONTPEUER. 



59 



glimpse of the spirit and results of this pastorate. 
He had just learned of the death of a young lady of 
this Church, and says: 

" There has been no moment of time in my ministerial 
life, filled with so true and deep a joy as that in which she 
said to me, as I took her hand to bid her good-bye: 'Brother 
Hemenway, won't you pray for me ? I wish to be a Chris- 
tian.' I had long felt that she stood on the very verge of life, 
but in my extreme fearfulness I dared not venture to address 
her with reference to personal religion, lest I should break the 
spell that seemed to be drawing her to the Savior. And the 
bliss of that glad moment, in which I was first assured of her 
purpose to be a Christian, was the truest and deepest of my 
ministerial life. Her thoughtful and earnest look, which had 
confronted me so many times as I stood in the sacred desk, 
had burned itself into my very soul. I knew that she was an 
earnest seeker for the true center of rest and the unfailing source 
of consolation. And in the silence of this night, as I think of 
her, I feel a gratitude I can not express, but which fills my 
eyes with tears and my heart with joy that she found them." 



60 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



I CHAPTER VI. 

NEW FIELDS AT THE WEST. 
1857-1870. 

NEVER was a man's spirit more willing to con- 
tinue for life the work of a Methodist preacher 
and pastor. Mr. Hemenway loved to preach, and he 
delighted in the pastoral relation. But the flesh stag- 
gered under its heavy burden, and rest and change 
became imperative. He decided to ask for a location 
at the approaching conference of 1857, and to seek 
recuperation among the Chelsea hills, while he should 
await the directing voice of Providence. The first 
intimation of the call came in the form of a letter 
from Professor Henry S. Noyes, of the Northwestern 
University, at Evanston, 111., dated April 13, 1857. 
It stated that the writer had recommended Mr. Hem- 
enway for the position of principal of the preparatory 
department of the Garrett Biblical Institute. It says: 
"Dr. Kidder has told me what kind of a man they 
want, and I have informed him that you exactly ful- 
fill all the required conditions. He is favorably im- 
pressed, and desires me to write you to ascertain 
whether you would favorably entertain such a prop- 
osition." The annual income of the institute was 
stated to be nineteen thousand dollars. The question 
of his joining the East Genesee Conference was under 



NEW FIELDS AT THE WEST. 



61 



consideration at the same time. A later letter of 
Professor Noyes's says: "The lake breeze keeps us 
from miasma. The range of study in the preparatory 
department of the Institute comprises common En- 
glish branches, rhetoric, elementary Greek, elocution, 
and possibly Hebrew. I am greatly desirous to see 
you in this position. Dr. Dempster speaks of you in, 
the highest terms. We are not entirely ' out of the 
woods' yet, but this is no drawback, and all our 
visitors are charmed with our delightful scenery." 
Bishop Baker, and many others, uniting in commend- 
ing this appointment, it was formally made by the 
trustees* and accepted by Mr. Hemenway, and in 
September, 1857, he left the hills and valleys of Ver- 
mont for his new home on the shores of Lake Mich- 
igan. His admiration and love for New England 
never decreased. Twelve years after this removal, 
he wrote to a friend in Montpelier, Vt. : 

" We think of you with peculiar interest in these unri- 
valed summer days. What a lovely home you have ! Do you 
know how grand is the panorama before you every time you 
ride to town ? Your hills and mountains standing about you, 
clothed in their summer beauty, are worth a pilgrimage to see. 
I express no disloyalty to the magnificent country in which 
our lives are cast, when I confess my profound sense of its in- 
feriority, in variety and beauty, to yours. May God continue 
you, for many long years, to drink in his goodness through 
channels so appropriate !" 

Yet Evanston, too, had its peculiar natural charms, 
to w r hich even the early Indian inhabitants were not 



* The trustees at this time were the Hon. Grant Goodrich, Orring- 
ton Lunt, John Evans, and Revs. Philo Judson and Stephen P. Keyes. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



indifferent. To the gently rounded cape, covered 
with noble oaks and jutting out into the blue waters 
of Lake Michigan, which now forms the main campus, 
they gave, if the tradition is trustworthy, the name of 
" Beauty's Eyebrow." Just north of this, and be- 
yond the " Rubicon," the first building* of the the- 
ological school was erected in 1854, on the location 
now occupied by the Swedish Theological Seminary. 
The remarkable series of events which led to the es- 
tablishment of the Garrett Biblical Institute might 
well be considered romantic, if it should not rather 
be regarded as providential. The history can not be 
related here, f The first term of instruction, under a 
temporary organization, began in January, 1855, with 
four students, under the tuition of Dr. Dempster and 
Professors William Goodfellow and William P. 
Wright. When Professor Hemenway entered upon 
his duties, in the autumn of 1857, he came to an 
Evanston very different from that of to-day. Up to 
that year the mail was received but once a week. 
The present main campus did not contain a single 
building. The Northwestern University found ample 
accommodations in a portion of the present prepara- 
tory building, which then stood at the north-west 
corner of Davis Street and Hinman Avenue. 

Actual work in the Northwestern University had 



* After the erection of Heck Hall, this building became a univer- 
sity boarding-house, and was known as Dempster Hall. It was burned 
to the ground in 1879. Special mention is here made of it because of 
its historic interest, and of the memories associated with it in the 
minds of the older alumni of the Institute. 

t See the historical sketch, by the late Hon. Grant Goodrich, in the 
catalogue of the Institute for 1889, and "The History of Evanston," 
by Miss Frances E. Willard. 



NEW FIELDS AT THE WEST. 



63 



begun November 5, 1855, with ten young men, who 
constituted a Freshman class. The Rev. Dr. Ran- 
dolph S. Foster was the President ; Henry S. Noyes, 
A. M., Professor of Mathematics; Rev. W. D. God- 
man, A. M., Professor of Greek ; and Daniel Bon- 
bright, A. M., Professor of Latin. The name of the 
Rev. Abel Stevens, A. M., appears as Professor of 
Rhetoric and English Literature, but he never came 
to Evanston for active service. A sister institution 
had also been established by Professor W. P. Jones, 
bearing the somewhat cumbrous name of " The North- 
western Female College and Male Preparatory." 

The circular of the University for 1857-8 has the 
additional name of J. V. Z. Blaney, M. D., as Pro- 
fessor of Natural Sciences, and states that Professor 
Bonbright is absent in Europe. By this time there 
were three small collegiate classes, and two thousand 
volumes in the library. It adds naively that " Mr. 
Kennicott is collecting a museum of natural his- 
tory," and that "the community comprises, with few 
exceptions, professors of religion." The circular of 
1858-9 claims a population for the village of twelve 
hundred. 

Rooms for Professor Hemenway were provided in 
the building of the institute named above. Fifty- 
three theological students were registered for the year 
1857-8, of whom thirteen were engaged in prepara- 
tory studies. The Rev. Dr. John Dempster, the noble 
founder of Methodist theological institutions; the 
Rev. Daniel P. Kidder, an acknowledged leader in 
theological training ; and the Rev. Henry Bannister, 
in the full vigor of his powers, and with a well- 



64 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



earned reputation as a Biblical scholar, constituted 
the regular faculty. The capacity of the original 
building had been nearly doubled by a large addi- 
tion. A glimpse of the interior is given us in the 
reminiscences of the Rev. Thomas R. Strobridge, A. M., 
who says : " When I first took my seat in the chapel, and 
swept my gaze about me, I was amused at the coats 
of many colors which the students wore. But I grew 
sober as I observed the central figure upon the plat- 
form, an aged man, not large of stature, with a genial, 
thoughtful face, wearing the same kind of a garment, 
made of dark, red-figured calico. This was Dr. 
Dempster, whom I frequently saw afterwards work- 
ing at his wood-pile. There also sat Dr. Bannister, 
whose sturdy form, strong face, and noble character 
were in perfect harmony; Dr. Kidder, whose erect 
carriage denoted the courteous gentleman and me- 
thodical student; and Professor Hemenway, accurate, 
clear, industrious, and upright in form as in soul."* 

The conditions of life and work in these pioneer 
days, in what Miss Willard calls the " rural and 
idyllic Evanston," were simpler than now, but, if the 
testimony of the old settlers is trustworthy, were not 
only satisfactory but delightful. A brief extract 
from a letter, written by Professor Hemenway June 
11, 1859, gives us a picture of the social enjoyments: 
" Last Wednesday I took dinner at Dr. Foster's, only 
two or three being present beside the family. That eve- 
ning I attended a tea-party at Professor Noyes's, with 
the Willards, Bannisters, Professor Bonbright, Mrs. 



From the Evauston Press, 1889. 



NEW FIELDS Al THE WEST. 



65 



White, and Mrs. Evans. The same day I had the 
supreme honor and felicity of being introduced to 
'The Little Giant' [Senator Douglas]. On the 
same remarkable day I visited the Art Union at 
Chicago. " The same letter states that " the commu- 
nity is excited over the prospect of Bishop Simpson's 
coming to Evanston to reside." 

Professor Hemenway entered upon his work with 
an enthusiasm and equipment which assured success. 
He manifested those peculiar excellencies as a teacher 
for which he afterward became conspicuous. After 
an interval of housekeeping on Michigan Avenue, 
the family found a congenial home at Dr. Bannister's, 
until, in the summer of 1859, he built his own house, 
on Clark Street, between Judson and Hinman Ave- 
nues. By this time the paralyzing effects of the 
panic of 1857 had checked the promising growth of 
Evanston, and greatly reduced the resources of both 
University and Institute. Times grew worse rather 
than better, and in 1861 Professor Hemenway de- 
cided to relieve the general embarrassment by tem- 
porarily re-entering the active ministry. He was 
granted a leave of absence, and was appointed pastor 
of the Methodist church at Kalamazoo, Michigan. 
The following year his valued services were desired 
and secured by the First Methodist Church of Chi- 
cago, the old mother church, then in the full vigor 
of her prime. His ministrations there were most ac- 
ceptable ; but the heavy duties and cares overtaxed 
his strength, and, at his own desire, he was returned 
to Kalamazoo to fill out his three years' pastoral term. 
The impressions and influences of these years are 



* 



66 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



cherished both by the local church and the Michigan 
Conference in sacred and grateful remembrance. 

These four years spent in the pastorate were those 
of the Civil War. That his utterances in regard to 
it were not uncertain is evident from the following 
extract from a sermon, preached in the autumn of 
1864, at the close of his second year at Kalamazoo: 

"The year now closing has been one of the most exciting 
and perilous in the history of this nation. It has been a year 
of doubt and darkness, of tears and blood and suspense, of 
fearful peril and sublime patriotism. The terrible strife that 
has been raging in our land has continued with unabated fury. 
The cause of public order, involving every thing dear to the 
patriot and Christian, has been in imminent peril; and I could 
not be silent; I could not if I would, I would not if I could. 
Treason is a capital crime, and I have judged that mere indif- 
ference at such a time as this partakes of the nature of treason. 
If I could stand by with a cold, calculating selfishness when my 
country is in a death grapple with her foes, I should be unfit to 
live, how much more unfit to stand in this sacred place ! And 
I have spoken, not as a politician, but as a patriot ; not as a par- 
tisan, but as a Christian. I have spoken with the single pur- 
pose of making the government strong. As a minister, I have 
felt that I have nothing to do with men or measures, with ad- 
ministrations or policies, except as connected with a divinely- 
established government. For the interests of truth, of human- 
ity, of religion : for the love of the past and the hope of the 
future ; in view of my allegiance to my country and my God, 
I have spoken. Xever as the friend of any party; never as 
the advocate of any policy ; never in view of any merely 
earthly interest. It is possible, though I have received no 
such intimation from any quarter, that the words I have 
spoken on this subject have sometimes been felt to be narrow 
and bitter and partisan, or, at least, too earnest and emphatic. 
If I have ever spoken harshly or bitterly ; if I have ever os- 
tracized from the pale of my sympathies any truly loyal man ; 
if plainly or obscurely, directly or by implication, I have been 



NEW FIELDS AT THE WEST 



understood to teach anything more than unconditional, un- 
swerving, unyielding devotion to our God-given government, 
I deeply regret it and humbly beg your pardon. But if, on 
the other hand, my words have been, as they were intended 
to be, true to the Union, to humanity, to God, to the past and 
to the future; if they have been such words as the Christian 
soldier would speak with the inspiration of his heroic death 
upon him; if they have been such words as those sublime 
patriots of our Revolution would speak, could they come down 
amid the ruin and darkness of this great civil strife, whose 
stake is the very government founded by their wisdom, con- 
secrated by their prayers, watered by their tears, and baptized 
with their blood, I do not wish them changed. I am grateful 
to have been* permitted to speak, though feebly, in their be- 
half. I could only wish that my utterances had been more 
emphatic and influential. If I could speak coldly or doubt- 
fully in behalf of a cause for which, in the same hour, hun- 
dreds and thousands of my brethren may be dying, I should 
be unworthy of the American name. Brethren, it is only the 
sacrifice and union, the faith and firmness of the loyal people 
of the North that can avert an issue, the result of which must 
be the scorn of men, the curse of God, and calamities in com- 
parison with which war itself would be light. Better that a 
generation perish than that the tyranny, corruption, and bar- 
barism of a slaveholding government be permitted to sweep 
over our land! And if this result may be averted by prayer, 
by suffering, by concession of everything but principle, let us 
not falter." 

The character of his preaching may be fairly- 
judged from the sermons included in this volume. 
These selected examples may surpass his average ser- 
mon in finish or special interest, but they lose im- 
mensely more in lacking the living voice and impress- 
ive personality of the preacher. He ordinarily wrote 
rather full notes in preparing to preach, and then 
spoke extemporaneously from a brief outline. Oc- 
casionally, however, he would read from a full man- 



68 B/0 GRA PHICAL SKETCH. 

uscript with marked effect. His illustrations were 
frequent, fresh and pointed. His main divisions 
were clearly marked, forcibly stated, and hence easily 
remembered. More than one minister has avoided 
using a text from which he has heard Professor 
Hemenway preach, from fear of plagiarism, which 
could not honestly be attributed to " unconscious as- 
similation/' 

The general influence and results of his pastorate 
in Kalamazoo are described in a letter from a promi- 
nent member of the church : 

"One beautiful October day, in 1861, there came to our 
then village a young man of medium height, clear-cut, intel- 
lectual lace, cultivated manners, and pleasant voice. He 
sought out the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and introduced himself as Mr. Hemenway, and was at once 
recognized as the newly appointed pastor. That October day 
marked an era in the history of the Methodist church of Kal- 
amazoo. The church he came to serve was a small society, 
worshiping in an old wooden building. It was singularly 
wanting in all those external things which tend to make a 
church a refining and uplifting power in a community. After 
a three years' pastorate he left us well on the way to the high 
position of influence and usefulness to which the church has 
since attained. The missionary and other collections were in- 
creased phenomenally, and the membership largely added to, 
though there was no wide-spread revival. He made possible 
the large church-building enterprise on which we entered the 
next year. Indeed, the church experienced a true renais- 
sance — religious, intellectual, and social. He found us weak 
and small; he left us strong, united, and growing. Never be- 
fore were the relations of all the pastors of the Kalamazoo 
churches so fraternal ; and never before was a Methodist pas- 
tor in Kalamazoo so respected, beloved, and sought after by 
other denominations. But my poor pen can never tell all he 



NEW FIELDS AT THE WEST. 



69 



was to us, and all he did for us as individuals and as a church. 
The story may be partially read in our material growth and 
prosperity, but a fuller and more enduring record exists in 
the hearts and lives of those to whom he was an inspiration 
and a guide. And now, though more than a -quarter of a 
century has passed, and many of those who were blessed by 
his ministrations here are, we trust, enjoying the 'liberty of 
the sons of God,' there are still many among us to whom his 
name stands for all that most perfectly characterizes ' a minis- 
ter in the church of God/ and his memory is, in the Kala- 
mazoo church, 'as ointment poured forth.'" 

An important event of this period was the death 
of Dr. Dempster, which occurred in November, 1863. 
The Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Eddy preached his funeral 
sermon at Evanston ; and memorial services were 
held in the Clark Street church in Chicago, Decem- 
ber 13th, which were participated in by Professor 
Hemenway, Dr. Kidder, Dr. Bannister, Rev. C. H. 
Fowler, and Dr. Tiffany. Professor Hemenway was 
asked to speak of Dr. Dempster as a minister. A 
few sentences from his address will show his admira- 
tion and affection for this honored man : 

"I feel that I do no injustice to the living when I say 
that there are regards in which Dr. Dempster stood alone in 
my affection, as he now stands, and must ever stand, alone in 
my memory. It is not for me to speak of his genius, his va- 
ried and extraordinary attainments, his unsurpassed industry, 
his rigid parsimony of time ; his steady inclination toward 
whatever might improve the condition, elevate the character, 
and promote the efficiency of that church in which he was a 
happy member and honored minister for fifty years ; the sim- 
plicity and modesty with which he bore the distinguished 
honors so worthily conferred on him ; that uniform courtesy 
of demeanor and kindliness of heart which made him more 
than welcome in every circle He was sometimes 



70 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



overwhelmingly eloquent In the devotional part of 

the minister's work he was pre-eminent. I have heard many 
men pray, but no man like Dr. Dempster. In the fitness of 
his terms, the delicate gleams of imagery, the vigor and com- 
prehensiveness of the thought expressed, and, above all, in the 
fervor, the unction, the rapt inspiration of his style, he was 

most remarkable For two years I was under him 

as a student, and for several years as a subordinate teacher, 
and during these years I can recall no instance of an unneces- 
sary wound to my feelings, not a single exhibition of infirmity 
of temper, no harsh or careless or unfeeling word ; but always 
the most tender regard for the rights, interests, convictions, 
and even prejudices of those with whom he had to do. The 
sweetness of his temper, his perfect self-control, the affability 
of his manners, his rare conversational powers, and keen and 
ready wit, made him a favorite in every circle." 

The vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Demp- 
ster was most wisely filled by the election, in 1864, 
of the Rev. Dr. Miner Raymond to the chair of Sys- 
tematic Theology, who, in addition to his work in 
the Institute, served as pastor of the Evanston church 
for three years, to the great enjoyment and profit of 
the congregation. The finances of the Institute hav- 
ing materially improved by 1865, Professor Hemen- 
way then resumed his duties in the school, not, how- 
ever, as instructor in English Literature and Greek, 
but as adjunct Professor of Biblical Literature. 

A substantial and visible proof of the improved 
conditions was the laying of the corner-stone of a 
new building for the Institute in 1866. The Rev. 
James S. Smart, of Michigan, who was financial agent 
at this time, labored efficiently to make this a worthy 
centenary memorial, and was nobly aided by the La- 
dies' Centenary Association. Miss Frances E. Wil- 



NEW FIELDS AT THE WEST. 71 

.1 

lard was introduced to public life as corresponding 
secretary of this association. The new building was 
appropriately named "Heck Hall/' after Mrs. Bar- 
bara Heck, of blessed memory. 

During this period such history was being made in 
his family circle as must remain unwritten, and yet is 
recognized in every home as more important than all 
which can be recorded. He had watched, with unut- 
terable anxiety, for the returning health of the one 
who was dearest to him, and whose life was threat- 
ened by disease. Once death had entered his home, 
and taken away his second child, little Willie, who 
seemed, in the father's eyes, the most beautiful thing 
he had ever seen. In joy and sorrow, his home was 
to him the center of his affection and life. Yet he 
was ever faithful to his duties as a friend and neigh- 
bor, as a citizen, and as a member and minister of the 
church. He made it a rule to be present at the 
weekly prayer-meeting, and most of the time he 
served either as a class-leader or Sunday-school 
teacher. During the years spent at Evanston he was 
frequently called for occasional service as preacher, 
and served as a regular supply, for longer or shorter 
periods, at Winnetka, Rogers Park, and some other 
places. These years, though outwardly rather une- 
ventful, were filled with beneficent activity, which 
brought discipline and happiness to him, and incal- 
culable blessings to others. 

In 1859 Professor Hemenway had received the 
degree of Master of Arts from the Ohio Wesleyan 
University, an honor most fittingly bestowed, since, 
by private study, he had mastered a range of collegi- 



72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

I 

ate studies more extensive than the ordinary college 
curriculum of the day. In 1870 the Northwestern 
University honored him with the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity, and he was elected by the trustees to the 
chair of Hebrew and Biblical Literature. This lat- 
ter year, therefore, is marked by the public recogni- 
tion of the maturity of his powers both as a scholar 
and teacher. 



AT EVANS TON. 



73 



♦ 



CHAPTER VII. 

AT EVANSTON. 
1870-1874. 

DR. HEMENWAY was now forty years old. 
The portrait accompanying this volume will re- 
call to friends and reveal to others the attractiveness 
of his face, with its broad brow, clear-cut features, 
and bright and kindly expression. His eyes and 
complexion were dark; his hair and whiskers, origi- 
nally black, were now well silvered with gray, and 
becoming fringed with white. A little under the 
medium height, his carriage was erect and his step 
quick and peculiar. His dress was " neither distinct- 
ively clerical nor noticeably otherwise, but simple, 
sober, and manly." He had a rich and pleasant 
voice, and a manner generally reserved, yet always 
courteous. His bright smile and occasional hearty 
laugh will be remembered by his intimate friends. 
He was now living in his own house, on the corner 
of Chicago avenue and Clark street. His family 
consisted of his wife and two sons, Henry and Frank. 
Of this home it is enough to say that it reached his 
own lofty ideal of " a place of rest and peace and 
freedom — a holy place, a place of brightness and 
warmth, the clearest and fullest revelation of the best 
possibilities of human experience." If he appeared 
reserved to others, he poured out upon his family a 

6 



74 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



veritable wealth of affection. He cherished also the 
neighborhood ties which had been forming for many 
years, and he was, in turn, greatly beloved. 

Many remember well his accustomed seat at the 
church prayer-meeting, which was seldom vacant. 
Some w T ill never forget how heartily he used to sing 
the hymns he loved so well. His voice in prayer 
and testimony was ever most welcome. Of the words 
he spoke these sentences are characteristic : " No 
man w T as ever happier in his church relations than I 
am." " The religion of Jesus Christ meets every 
want of my nature and condition." One friend* has 
treasured in his memory the following remarks, and 
has reproduced them substantially as they were 
uttered by Dr. Hemenw r ay in a Wednesday evening 
prayer-meeting : 

" It is in their human qualities that the life and character 
of the Savior afford to me the greatest helpfulness and hope. 
The fact that Jesus was a man, and that as a man he can enter 
into, understand, and sympathize with all the experiences of 
men, enables me to come into closer relationship with him 
than would be possible under any other conditions. As a 
Divine Being I adore and w r orship him. His power impresses 
me with wonder and with awe ; his condescension fills me with 
amazement, and his goodness and mercy with gratitude. In 
all these respects, however, he is infinitely removed from me. 
He is my Lord and «Master, the God whom I reverence, the 
Sovereign whose loyal subject I strive to be, and believe that 
I am. 

"But it is the human Christ to whom my heart cleaves 
when temptations beset me. When disappointments and af- 
flictions and sorrows press heavily upon me, I remember that 
Jesus, in his human character, became familiar with all of these 

* Mr. Frank P. Crandon. 



AT EVANSTON. 



75 



experiences ; that under conditions and limitations similar to 
those which surround me, he worked and walked and talked 
and lived and died. He is literally my brother. He knows all 
about my trials and my necessities, not as the ministering 
angels know these things, not even as God the Father knows 
them, but as they become known to one who has shared 
them— one who has borne the burden they impose, and who, 
through these experiences, can understand my case, and afford 
me the exact assistance and strength which I need. In this 
Elder Brother's presence I am no longer conscious of the dis- 
tance which intervenes between an infinite God and a sinful 
man. The Savior talks with me, and as we commune together 
he seems to enfold me in his arms. He bears me upwards 
out of the region of despondency or of doubt, dissipates every 
cloud and every fear, and so identifies me with himself that I 
am made a partaker of his strength ; and as I go forth to the 
duties and labors which await me, I am constantly encouraged 
by the admonition, ' Be of good cheer, I have overcome the 
world.'" 

Dr. Hemenway was a regular attendant of the 
Saturday evening teachers' meeting, which he fre- 
quently led. Referring to this, Mr. William Deering, 
a layman of great experience in this line, and of ripe 
judgment, has said: " Dr. Hemenway was the best 
Bible teacher I have ever known." 

His great life-work, however, was done in the 
class-room. The teacher's chair was his throne of 
power. The old Dempster Chapel in Heck Hall will 
ever be sacred in the memory of many students, be- 
cause of the intellectual stimulus and spiritual inspi- 
ration received in his classes there. A former student 
writes: "Nothing that he said is so vividly remem- 
bered by me as the prayers with which he opened 
each recitation hour. These were brief, fervent, 
pointed, and so suited to the circumstances of stu- 



76 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



dent life that I am sure others must have felt as I 
did, that they were the voicing of desires which I 
had deeply felt but found no words to express. 
There was always more light afier he had prayed." 

Another former student,* noticing the remarkable 
brevity, thoughtfulness, and finish of these prayers, 
formed the habit of taking them down. Among 
those thus preserved are the following : 

"Inspire us with a regard for thy law as it applies 
to every thought of the mind, to every emotion of 
the soul, and to all the energies of the will." 

"We bring unto thee an imperfect service; but 
we ask thee to accept it, not because of what we have 
obtained, but because of what we desire to obtain. 
Bless us, O Lord, evermore. Amen." 

" O God, help us to recognize thee as the King of 
truth — truth which is not only external in its relation, 
but first of all internal. Assist us to be ever loyal 
to the truth, both in the decisions of our intellect and 
the affections of the heart, and in the decisions of the 
will, and in all the acts and forms of our life. Bless 
us at this time, and reveal to us thy truth according 
to our need. Help us to call upon thee with full 
purpose of heart, for Jesus' sake. Amen." 

"We come unto thee, O Lord, asking thee for 
the blessing of which thou seest we stand in need, in 
order that we may properly do the work of this hour. 
O Lord, we thank thee for the bright shining of thy 
light upon us. We thank thee that we have our ex- 
istence in the fullness of thy revelation. We pray 



*Rev. Register W. Bland, class of 1884. 



AT EVANSTON, 



77 



thou wouldst help us to see the eminence upon which 
thou hast placed us. Enable us to understand our 
high privileges. Help us to realize that to whom 
much is given, of him much shall be required; that 
as ability increases responsibility increases. And, O 
Lord, help us to be faithful to the responsibilities 
which are upon us." 

Mr. Bland adds : " Sometimes his prayer was a 
single sentence, ending with an abrupt ( Amen/ His 
prayers had no hackneyed, worn-out, pious phrases. 
His phraseology was always fresh, clear, and con- 
densed. He abhorred cant and Pharisaism. He 
said it seemed to him that the interior communings 
of the soul with God were too sacred to be invaded 
by the questions of our most intimate associates, and 
sometimes too sacred to be uttered aloud." 

Another old student* has recalled these sentences 
from his prayers : 

"O Lord, we are driven to thee by a sense of our 
need, and we are drawn to thee by a sense of thy 
love." 

" As the leaf of the flower opens to receive the 
light of life from the sun, so, O God, we open our 
hearts to thee, the author of all life." 

"Shine upon our darkness and dispel it. Subdue 
our sins and cast them out." 

"Help us to recognize the solemn responsibilities 
that confront us every hour of our mortal being." 

Another f writes: "in those prayers Dr. Hemen- 
way talked with God as a man talks with his friend. 



-Rev. Wm. H. W. Rees, D D., class of 1883. 
t Rev. O. L. Fisher, class of 1871. 



78 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



One such prayer I can never forget, in which he 
thanked God that we could know his Son, Jesus 
Christ, better than Peter and James and John did, 
while they walked and talked with him in the 
flesh. As the prayer continued there came to me 
such a revelation of Christ that we seemed almost to 
be on the Mount of Transfiguration/' Rev. L. M. 
Hartley, of the class of 1884, recalls this incident: 
One day, when the nature of God was under discus- 
sion in the class, a student questioned the propriety 
of attributing emotion to the Almighty. At this Dr. 
Hemenway kindled, and exclaimed in his peculiarly 
emphatic way : " Remove emotion and feeling from 
the idea of God, and you have taken away my God." 

Dr. Hemenway's principal work was in Hebrew 
and Biblical literature. He was not enthusiastic in 
the drill required in teaching the elements of a for- 
eign language. The new methods of teaching Hebrew 
had not yet been introduced. Yet his instruction in 
the elements was thorough and satisfactory. His ex- 
positions were free, clear, and suggestive. "Written 
notes were seldom taken, and written examinations 
were not required. In his lectures on Biblical Intro- 
duction he exhibited and aroused greater enthusiasm. 
He was accustomed to w r rite an outline of his lecture 
on the blackboard, and then, standing before the 
class, he would enlarge upon this in forcible and well- 
chosen language; so that the hour proved not only 
instructive, but interesting and inspiring. During 
several of the years of this period he gave instruc- 
tion, also, in homiletics and pastoral theology. His 
ideal of a Methodist preacher and pastor was clearly 



AT EVANSTON. 



79 



defined and high. From his own experience, and his 
observation, he had accurate and extensive knowledge 
of a Methodist minister's field of labor. He had care- 
fully studied the conditions of success, and was pecul- 
iarly fitted, by his sound judgment, warm sympathy, 
and descriptive powers, to present these conditions viv- 
idly to the minds of his students. While he described 
this lofty ideal of a Methodist minister — as a man, a 
student, as a preacher and pastor — many who listened 
formed a new and higher conception of their calling, 
and accepted the directions and inspiration offered 
them as among the greatest and best of their lives. 
The notes taken on this subject were cherished and 
consulted in later years, in the midst of the active 
duties and perplexities of responsible pastoral life. 

Some extracts from his utterances, concerning the 
Methodist preacher and pastor, will show the force 
and clearness of his views : 

" The Methodist minister should have some special adap- 
tations. For instance, to the masses. It is the special glory 
of Methodism that it is eminently the religion of the people. 
To be suited to her ministry one must be capable of adjusting 
himself, not merely to the cultured and aristocratic few, but 
to the hard-working, practical masses, who make up the bone 
and sinew of society. He must not be dainty and fastidious in 
his tastes. He must be able to wield an influence over men in- 
capable of judging of the quality of his culture and indifferent 
to the beauty of his diction, but who, nevertheless, may judge 
very correctly as to the quality of his teaching and the spirit of 
his ministry. He should distinctly aim at power over the people. 
Monarchists cry, 'God save the king!' American politicians, 
' God save the Union !' ecclesiastics, * God save the church !' but 
let it be the cry of Methodists, everywhere and always, ' God save 
the people!' for if they are saved, every thing else worth saving 



80 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



will be saved also. There is a kind of clerical exclusiveness, 
which many indulge or affect, and which stands in the way of 
this practical adaptation. Some clergymen — of what George 
MacDonald calls the ' pure, honest, and narrow type ' — seem, in 
every point and line of their countenances, marked as priests, 
and hence apart from their fellow-men. By their dress, the 
tones of their voice, and their general demeanor, they proclaim: 
'Stand by yourself, come not near me, for I am holier than 
thou.' They are, they would seem to say, as the Sabbath to 
common days, or the church to common houses ; but, more 
correctly, they are like funerals to common events, or corpses 
to living beings. In the unsullied whiteness and the un- 
wrinkled blackness of their costumes, in the cold stateliness 
of their aspect, and their hollow and priestly tones, they re- 
mind us of the dead rather than of the living. They move 
among men with a mingled pomposity and solemnity, 'as if 
the care of the whole world lay on their shoulders ; as if an 
awful destruction was the most likely thing to happen to every 
one, while to them is committed the toilsome chance of saving 
some.' As they enter the places where men congregate — 
market, shop, railway depot, public hall — the language of their 
manner is: 1 Procul o, procul este, profaniP They flow into the 
sea of common humanity like streams of holy oil. When they 
speak to common men they bless, or patronize, or tolerate, or 
endure. Their ministrations have a mechanical efficacy. Men 
are to be regenerated by their magical, priestly touch, or by 
their grand and impressive ceremonial manipulations. Men 
of this type, though found in every denomination, are specially 
out of place in our ministry. The Methodist minister s l ould 
be every inch a man. He should be more broadly, profoundly, 
and intensely human than common men. He must be able to 
give other men his hand and his heart — to ■ rejoice with them 
that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.' Not by pomp- 
ous ceremonies, but by vital influences will he expect to 
save men There must be adaptation to the Meth- 
odist pulpit. The Methodist pulpit, however numerous and 
marked may be the individual exceptions, is a place where 
the gospel is preached freely, earnestly, plainly, pointedly, 
effectively. It is not a place for essays — theological, moral, 



AT EVANSTON. 



81 



literary, or any other kind. It is not a place for lectures 
or orations, be they political or religious. It is not a place 
for abstrusities, profundities, or platitudes. It is not a place 
for dry and harsh polemics. It is not a theater for oratorical 
display, or word-painting — for intellectual gymnastics. The 
preaching of the Methodist pulpit must be nothing suited to 
the few merely, but to all. It must address, not the intel- 
lectual nature mainly, but the spiritual nature. Its profiting 
• must not respect mainly the life that now is, but Mint which is 
to come. If it be said that all these characteristics pertain to 
the Christian pulpit as such, in every denomination, I reply 
that they characterize eminently the Methodist pulpit. There 
are those who would be acceptable in other pulpits who would 
not be acceptable in ours; just as there arj many who do ef- 
fective work among us, but would not be equally successful in 
any other denomination. The typical Methodist preacher is a 
man positive in his convictions, fervid in his feelings, plain 
and downright in speech, simple in manner, of broad sympa- 
thies, and capable of wielding a fair measure of popular influ- 
ence. Extemporaneousness of address, also, is commonly as- 
sociated with these qualities, and is their most natural mode of 
expression." . . . 

"And so, too, should be corrected all tendencies towards 
priestly charlatanism — ghostly, prie&tfy tones, denominational 
cant, stock phrases, and affectations of all sorts and kinds. 
The clergyman who is faithful to himself, and thoroughly gen- 
uine in his individual life, will, in the end, slough off all such 
excrescences, and stand forth a truthful expression of the re- 
ligion which he assumes to teach." . . . 

"Especially offensive to a cultivated and spiritual wor- 
shiper is ministerial egotism. The minister who, like iEsop's 
fly, seated on the end of the carriage axle, is continually ex- 
claiming, 'See what a dust I raise!' thus constantly thrust- 
ing his important self upon the attention of those whose 
' heart and flesh are crying out for the living God,' wearies and 
baffles the spirit of devotion sometimes to the point of positive 
disgust or absolute defeat." . . . 

"If I have room to mention another clerical vice which 
mars the beauty and lessens the interest of public religious 



82 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



service, it shall be affectation. In the case of the minister, it 
hides more excellencies than charity does sins. There is noth- 
ing we so much demand in men, and especially those who 
'minister and serve the altar,' as genuineness— a thorough 
conformity of the outward life to the inward spirit. Strained 
allusions, disgusting finery, pompousness of demeanor are es- 
pecially out of harmony with the office of him who stands 
before the people 'in Christ's stead.'" . . . 

" Here, then, is a prime qualification for a Methodst pas- 
tor. He should know the peculiar genius of his denomination, 
and be in full sympathy with it. He should enter into this 
great evangelic movement. He should feel that his business 
is not to instruct men as an end, but to save them. He should 
seek to follow worthily in the footsteps of the fathers, and 
tone up his soul by studying their heroic lives. He should 
practice the same simplicity, earnestness, directness, evan- 
gelic intensity which God so honored in Wesley's time. He 
should remember, as he stands up to speak to the people, that, 
in the case of many of them, he has but a half hour out of 
the week to raise the dead in, and this reflection should nerve 
his arm to strike the most vigorous blows. Then shall every 
sermon be a battle — short, sharp, decisive, victorious." 

No pen-picture of this great teacher would be 
complete without some reference to his sense of 
humor, and the sarcasm which he wielded in the 
class-room in an effective and sometimes startling 
way ; yet it is impossible to give any idea of the 
quality and power of his wit. All his former stu- 
dents remember it well, some doubtless ruefully. 
But few can recall definite examples, and those pre- 
served, apart from the remembered situation, give 
no adequate impression of their original pungency. 
Some of the alumni of the Institute may, however, 
enjoy the following, as reminders of the old seminary 
days. In the Hebrew class, one day, a student trans- 



AT EVANSTON. 



83 



latecl Gen. ii, 3, as follows: "And God blessed the 
seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he 
had done all his work." " That rendering," re- 
marked Dr. Hemenway without a smile, " is for 
some preachers — on the seventh day they do all their 
work." To a student whose irregularity and unfaith- 
fulness had greatly tried his patience, and who came 
to him one day with a lame excuse, he said : 

" Brother , I believe that you are a much better 

man than you seem to be." 

He used the Socratic method freely and effect- 
ively in his classes. He once defined teaching as 
" the vital and helpful contact of one stronger and 
better furnished with another who has a conscious 
need." His method of questioning was calculated 
to draw real knowledge into adequate expression ; 
but it was equally well fitted to expose ignorance 
and make conceit ridiculous. He sometimes made 
the contact vital by first cutting to the quick, and 
aroused the " conscious need " by making a student 
smart for a time for wounded vanity. Some of 
these wounds were long in healing, but the great ma- 
jority of students soon understood the underlying 
kindness of this spiritual surgery, and were grateful for 
it. His questions called forth some strange answers. A 
student, being asked whether the English or Hebrew 
language was the warmer, gave his opinion in favor 
of his mother tongue. "Why do you think so?" 
asked the Doctor. " Because the Hebrew is a dead 
language," was the ready reply. Doubtless Hebrew 
was made warmer for him after that. It may be 
that Dr. Hemenway learned the value of occasional 



84 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



severity from Dr. Dempster. It is related of the 
latter that he said to a student who had just at- 
tempted to recite : " Your thought has been buried 
in the tomb of your words ;" and that after announc- 
ing that a certain man would not return to finish his 
course of study because he had been married, he pro- 
nounced his sentence in a deep voice thus: " Plunged 
into the bottomless gulf of oblivion !" 

Dr. Hemenway sometimes followed an incorrect 
answer by a peculiarly emphatic " Never." An ex- 
aminer once perplexed a student about the word 
translated "beginning," in the first verse of Genesis, 
which the examiner spoke of as a " participle." 
Coming to the student's rescue, the Professor asked 
him if the Hebrew word in question was a participle. 
" Not here, I think," was the response. " No," said 
Dr. Hemenway, " not here nor anywhere else." But 
as a rule it was a scimiter and not a sledge-hammer 
which he wielded. I have been more than once re- 
minded of the Arabian story of a Damascus blade, 
which its owner would swing swiftly around the head 
of his enemy. The unconscious victim sat smiling 
until a pinch of snuff made him sneeze. At this his 
severed head rolled to the ground. The laugh of the 
class was sometimes the first intimation a student had 
of his sudden execution. 

In social intercourse he had many a hearty and 
good-humored laugh over the incidents of his pas- 
toral and school life. He told me once, with great 
enjoyment, of an old shoemaker in one of his par- 
ishes into whose good graces he found it exceedingly 
difficult to win his way. The old man kept station- 



AT EVANSTON. 



85 



ery and other articles to sell in his shop, and Dr. 
Hemenway went out of his way to purchase there. 
At length the old man thawed. "I like you," he 
said. " I 'm glad to know it." " But I could n't 
bear that other preacher who was here. He was so 
close. He asked me, one day, what the price of a pack- 
age of envelopes was, and I says, ' I '11 let you have 
them for five cents/ ' What/ says he, * has envelopes 
riz?' " 

The following, from a member of the last class he 
taught,* represents the experience of a large number : 

"My first impressions of him were not favorable. He 
appeared stern and unsympathetic, seldom speaking to or rec- 
ognizing us on the street or in the post-office when we chanced 
to meet him ; but I soon learned that underneath this exterior, 
which was calculated to inspire awe, there was a warm, sympa- 
thetic nature and heart which could but win the affection of 
his students when they came to know him well." 

An earlier student f writes : 

" I was but fourteen years old when I registered as a stu- 
dent for the ministry, and took a room in Heck Hall. Dr. 
Kidder cordially encouraged me when I timidly told him my 
boyish wish to become a preacher. I grew up on the old 
campus, and during those years when a boy is most deeply 
impressed was strongly influenced by Dr. Hemenway. I never 
saw him walking the old paths to and from the hall, with his 
peculiarly emphatic gait, without wishing to be what he 
seemed to be so thoroughly — a Christian gentleman. I think, 
by his manly deference in manner and address, he knocked off 
many a rough corner from us boys without knowing it him- 
self, and without our being aware of it. He was especially 
considerate of those who were trying, as I did for two years* 



*Rev. E. M. Glasgow, class of 1884. 
t Rev. R. G. Hobbs, class of 1878. 



86 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

to do that very bard thing, keep up with a class and carry on 
the work of a pastoral charge at the same time. He seemed 
to appreciate the fact that the fellows who were thus burniDg 
the candle at both ends needed special encouragement, and he 
never withheld it. His sympathies were quick and warm." 

Another alumnus * bears this testimony : 

''It took some time to get acquainted with him, but an 
acquaintance with such a character was something to be highly 
valued. How he prized faithfulness ! 1 A lazy student,' he 
said one day, 'may have a call to the ministry, but not a di- 
vine call." He emphasized the word 'didne' as only Dr. 
Hemenway could. In more than one of his classes he said 
things severe and deservedly severe. On one of these occa- 
sions he said: 'Brethren, you are fittiDg yourselves to be am- 
bassadors for Christ. If you are unfaithful to your studies in 
the Institute you will be unfaithful to your duties in the min- 
istry.' "Who can forget the tone of his voice and the flash of 
his eye in administering reproof? Xo cannon-ball was ever 
more direct than his words at such a time ; yet how warm and 
sympathetic was his nature ! The night that Dempster Hall 
was burned I barely escaped with my life. When I appeared 
next morning in the Doctor's recitation-room the earthly house 
of this tabernacle was not in a very presentable shape. His 
sympathy, expressed in words and deeds, I can never forget." 

Perhaps there was no part of his teaching enjoyed 
more by Dr. Hemenway and his classes than his lec- 
tures on hymnology. His love for Christian hymns 
began in early life, and his critical and enthusiastic 
study of them extended through many years. And 
in the minds of many, his memory is most vividly 
associated with his expositions of this subject in the 
delightful praise-meetings which he led. A part of 
the results of his hymn-studies will be found in this 
volume; but the richest fruitage, garnered in the 



* Rev. John Lee. class of 1SS2. 



AT EVANSTON. 



87 



Hymnal, has long benefited the entire Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

For some years he led the Tuesday evening class- 
meeting, held in Dempster Chapel. Many students 
have borne testimony to the rare helpfulness of the 
spiritual counsels given there. From the wealth of 
his knowledge of the Bible, of Christian hymns, of 
religious literature, and of human life, but most of 
all from his own inner life, he was able to counsel, 
warn, and inspire his younger brethren. In these 
meetings he seemed to come closer to the students, 
and exhibited a pastor's solicitude for their welfare. 
Some, who thought him cold, distant, and severe as 
an instructor, discovered in the class-room the warmth 
and tenderness of his heart. 

Those students who went to him for advice in 
times of perplexity and trouble, could never again 
doubt the sincerity and warmth of his interest in 
them. And by some, such interviews are cherished 
in memory as turning points in their lives. To such 
applicants he opened the secret treasuries of his mind 
and heart. His interest in individual students was 
far greater than was generally understood, and it did 
not cease with their graduation. 

In the meetings of the faculty the expressions of 
his judgment concerning students and alumni had 
especial weight. When some alumnus was to be rec- 
ommended for an important position or an honorary 
degree, Dr. Hemenway generally had the fullest 
knowledge of his course and success since graduation, 
and his discriminating judgment seemed almost in- 
fallible. 

* 



88 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



In estimating his personal influence, account should 
also be taken of his visits to the Western conferences 
to represent the Institute; of his services at Sunday- 
school assemblies; of his articles contributed to the 
religious press, particularly the Northwestern Christian 
Advocate and the Methodist Review. These fugitive 
writings related mainly to Biblical subjects and prac- 
tical discussions of a pastor's work. It was largely 
through his efforts that the Pastors' Theological Union 
was organized and held annually for several years at 
Evanston, meetings which were most profitable both 
to its members and to the Institute. In 1875 there 
were present six bishops and two hundred and 
twenty-seven pastors, representing thirty-three an- 
nual conferences. 

The witnesses already summoned bear testimony 
to the unique influence which Dr. Hemenway ex- 
erted. Others will, in a later chapter, emphasize this 
fact. But no description can adequately represent 
this power. It was as subtle and undefinable as life. 
It was the result of unusual character, in which gen- 
uineness, unselfish devotion, and deep spiritual expe- 
rience were the ruling elements. 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 89 



CHAPTER VIII. 

IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 
1874-1884. 

T the session of the Michigan conference, in the 



autumn of 1875, Dr. Hemenway was elected a 
delegate to the General Conference, which convened 
in Baltimore May 1st of the following year. Like 
many of the ablest men in great representative bodies, 
his voice was not heard in public debate. He ren- 
dered valuable service in the Committees on Education 
and Conference Boundaries, and his letters from the 
conference show his devotion to all the interests of 
the church, and his discriminating judgment of men 
and measures. The questions of the color-line, of 
woman's place in the church, and of the presiding 
eldership, were especially prominent. On each of 
these he had clear convictions, but made no public 
expression of them beyond his vote. If we regret 
this reserve, we can not fail to admire the modesty 
which caused it. He took a deep interest in visits to 
Alexandria, Washington, and Mt. Vernon, and es- 
pecially in the new phases of life which these places 
presented. He enjoyed lectures by Beecher, Simpson, 
and Fowler, and the rich succession of great sermons 
and eloquent addresses which a Methodist General 
Conference always affords. He made a pilgrimage to 




7 



♦ 



90 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

the graves of Asbury and Lee. This month, spent in 
Baltimore, extended his influence through the friend- 
ships strengthened and formed with leading men in 
the church; but the matter which made it possible 
for him to render an important service to every mem- 
ber of the Methodist church, for decades to come, 
was the action of the conference ordering the revision 
of the church Hymn-book. When a committee to do 
this work was appointed by the bishops, it was a matter 
of course that Dr. Hemenway should be a member of 
it, and it caused no surprise that he was chosen chair- 
man of the Western section. 

By poetic temperament, practical judgment, and 
long-continued study of hymnology, Dr. Hemenway 
was peculiarly fitted for this service. It is no injus- 
tice to the other members of this excellent committee 
to say that few of its number did so much as he, and 
no one more, to make the Hymnal the admirable 
book it is. From the first he gave himself to this 
labor of love with untiring enthusiasm. He attended 
all the meetings of his section and of the general 
committee. From the early summer of 1876, until 
the publication of the Hymnal in the autumn of 1877, 
his heart and mind seemed full of this subject. Two 
summer vacations were devoted almost exclusively to 
it. He is obliged to confess it a " prodigious job." 
The entire committee met twice in New York, and 
once each in Cleveland, Ohio, and East Greenwich, 
R. I. The work was done with great thoroughness 
and system. Every hymn passed in review three 
times, once privately and twice in the committee, 
where " debates arose and sometimes continued for 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 



91 



hours on a single hymn or part of a hymn," The 
sessions often continued until late at night. Dr. 
Hemenway was detailed more than once for special 
services. He was one of the sub-committee which 
submitted the results to the Board of Bishops, and he 
was one of the two selected to arrange the Hymnal 
with tunes, in conjunction with Dr. Eben Tourjee 
and Mr. J. P. Holbrook. Dr. Hemenway prepared 
the greater part of the report on the revision 
which was presented to the bishops, and which 
forms a valuable contribution to the history of hym- 
nology. * The chapters on hymnology contained in 
this volume took shape soon after the completion of 
the revision. 

The period during which these labors on the 
Hymnal were in progress was one of the darkest in 
the financial history of the Institute. Yet, as he -de- 
voted the usual time for summer rast and recupera- 
tion to severe and gratuitous toil for the good of the 
church, he wrote courageously of this gloomy outlook 
for the school : " I have faith that God will do his 
work if we do ours, and certainly it is not our work 
to determine the conditions of our own labors." 
Speaking of his spirit and counsels at this time, Dr. 
Raymond says: 

"In the darkest hour of our history, when the trustees in- 
formed us that the entire resources of the institution would be 
absorbed in the payment of the interest on its indebtedness, 
and there would not be a dollar left with which to continue 
the school, and when the faculty were called together to con- 

* The first twenty-two pages of the report, as printed, were written 
by the Rev. Dr. J. M. Buckley. 



t 



92 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



sider the communication from the trustees, Dr. Hemenway 
said at once, most emphatically: ' Whatever it may cost us as 
teachers, the doors of the Institute must not be closed.' He 
proposed the measure which was adopted, and which, so far 
as the faculty was concerned, was the means of tiding the in- 
stitution into the broad seas of its present prosperity." 

In addition to his other work, Dr. Hemenway also 
supplied the church at South Evanston, which, in 
loving memory of faithful and fruitful service, upon 
the completion of its handsome new edifice, named it 
the " Hemenway Memorial. " The Hon. M. D. 
Ewell, LL. D., contributes this concerning Dr. Hem- 
enway's pastorate there : 

"I think I was the first person who had an interview with 
him respecting his coming to serve this church, and I well 
remember the then depressed condition of the society. There 
were no striking events duriDg his service, but our intercourse 
with him, from first to last, was characterized by the utmost 
fraternal feeling, and I may add, affection. His work was 
faithful and prospered from beginning to end. I have never 
known a man more universally beloved and respected than 
was Dr. Hemenway by this society. I have never known a 
man more entirely unselfish in his relations with his people 
than was Dr. Hemenway. Whenever any benevolent or 
church enterprise was being canvassed, he always quietly but 
firmly insisted upon doing more for it than we thought he 
ought to do. In making these statements I feel sure that I 
represent the feeling of all who knew him. Personally I had 
the utmost respect for his ability, the most unbounded confi- 
dence in his piety, and very great affection for him as a man 
and a brother." 

There is reason for believing that the extra ex- 
ertion required for this gratuitous work upon the 
Hymnal may have shortened his life. At all events, 
the slow decline of strength began about this time. 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 93 



After the publication of the Hymnal the usual duties 
of his chair were supplemented by the completion of 
a commentary, which had been begun some two years 
earlier. This was Dr. Hemenway's most important 
individual publication. It treated of the books of 
Jeremiah and the Lamentations, and, together with 
the Commentary on Isaiah by Dr. Henry Bannister, 
forms the seventh volume of Whedon's Commentary. 
It is a noteworthy fact that no one of the three dis- 
tinguished men, whose names appear on the title-page 
of this book, lived to see the completed volume. 
This commentary exhibits the same qualities which 
marked Dr. Hemenway's instruction. It is clear, 
scholarly, independent, and spiritual, and takes rank 
with the best in this valuable series. 

In 1879 Dr. Hemenway was again chosen by his 
brethren of the Michigan conference to represent 
them in the General Conference which met in Cin- 
cinnati in 1880. Here he did quiet but efficient serv- 
ice, especially in the Committee on Education, of 
which he was secretary, and Dr. E. O. Haven 
chairman. 

Dr. Hemenway's entire public life adds another 
exception to the rule that a powerful physique and 
robust health are essential to great usefulness in re- 
sponsible positions. He never excused himself from 
duty on the ground of invalidism, nor did he seem 
to regard himself an invalid ; yet it was only by the 
most careful regard for the laws of health, and the 
concentration of his forces upon a few lines of effort, 
that he was able to accomplish what he undertook 
without overtaxing his strength. He waged a forty 



94 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



years' war with disease, and contested every point 
with wisdom and courage; and if a slow retreat was 
inevitable, it was masterly and honorable. With a 
cheerful courage, recognizing the early and irrepa- 
rable impairment of his constitution, he carefully con- 
served his strength and devoted it to the highest 
ends. In the spring of 1881, however, it became 
manifest to his friends and to himself that his health 
was seriously threatened. He planned to spend the 
summer months at the sea-shore, but was finally in- 
duced to try the effects of an ocean voyage and a 
short tour in the Old World. He sailed for Europe 
the latter part of July, in company with his son, 
Henry B. Hemenway, M. D. In a hurried trip, oc- 
cupying less than three months, they visited parts of 
Scotland, England, France, Germany, and Switzer- 
land. His letters show that he was a good, traveler, 
tempering an intelligent enthusiasm with sensible 
moderation. He did not wear himself out in the effort 
to see everything in every place, but sought to select 
and study typical specimens of the various objects of 
interest. Facing the Atlantic voyage for the first 
time, he writes home : " I know you are more or less 
solicitous for me, but I hope you will not be at all 
anxious. It seems evident that I am walking in the 
way of Providence, and if so I must be safe. And 
I want to say that even if it should be God's will 
to overwhelm me and remove me by some unforeseen 
dangers, which are always liable to come, I believe it 
will be well with me. I have a vivid and ofttimes 
oppressive sense of my sins and shortcomings, and 
never, perhaps, was that sense more vivid than now, 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 



95 



as I write ; but I do honestly seek to give myself to 
Christ, and I believe he accepts and saves me. I 
never felt more unqualifiedly determined, living and 
dying, to be the Lord's." 

Writing in 1882 to a friend who was starting for 
a foreign trip he said : " How this year, under God's 
blessing, may be made to enrich your whole life, and, 
through the work you shall do, the lives of many 
others also. There is a supreme instant in the pho- 
tographer's art when what had been a mere cloud, 
with dim and scarcely distinguishable outline, be- 
comes a perfect picture, so truthful and so expressive 
as to be beyond all price. So will this year, which 
is before you, be made up largely of such moments. 
The places and scenes which are old in your memory 
will come again into your life as new creations." 
After mentioning some of the principal places he had 
visited abroad, he added : " We had the satisfaction, 
also, of standing by the graves of many of God's 
heroes, of whose names this sheet is not worthy ; and 
some glorious visions entered our souls, which, I am 
sure, will be lost only, if at all, in the beatific state." 

One of these visions is described in a letter which 
he wrote home from Interlaken: "We have had 
glory enough for one day. At ten o'clock we left 
Basle and came through Berne into this Alpine 
region. I can not tell you what I have seen since 
then. It is an experience of a life-time. All the 
way from Berne the Alps were coming more grandly 
into view, until as we took the boat on Lake Thun 
the culmination was realized. The beautiful water of 
the lake was broken into fine ripples, which sparkled 



96 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



in the sunbeams like a pavement of precious stones. 
In the near foreground were the bold, precipitous 
mountains. A little farther off the peaks rose above 
them, streaked with white; and just beyond, and yet 
so near us as to seem absolutely startling, were the 
great forms which wear an eternal livery of white. It 
was almost like confronting the Great White Throne. 
They looked down upon us and drew near to us like 
the Infinite Presence. I never had any just concep- 
tion of mountain scenery before. " 

Dr. Hemenway returned from Europe with his 
health decidedly improved, and resumed with ardor 
his accustomed labors. If he had premonitions that 
there remained but three years more in which to 
finish his work, he gave no outward sign of them. In 
the home, the Institute, and the church he bore his 
part as before. If any change was noticed it was that 
the fruitage of his mind and heart seemed more 
abundant and rich. Perhaps he was more careful to 
take rest and exercise, yet he could accomplish more 
in the same time than in earlier years. 

The letters written to his sons during the last 
decade contain, in a condensed form, the results of 
his experience, and one might almost say his philos- 
ophy of life. Two characteristic utterances from 
these letters are the following : 

" I always want you to feel that you represent us, your 
parents, and are to represent us when we have ceased work- 
ing ; and so I want you to be strong and true and high-minded, 
cherishing at all times a vivid sense of the dignity and the 
sacredness of life." 

" I wish you may feel deeply and always, and that you 
may live it out continually, that no life is worth living that 
does not spend itself mainly in helping other people." 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 



97 



A long letter is preserved, written to his elder 
son when he was absent from home, pursuing his 
medical studies. It would prove a safe chart to any 
young physician and helpful to any student. The 
product of wide observation and deep thought, it is 
written with the simplicity and warmth which it re- 
ceived in the depths of an affectionate father's heart. 
As expressing his mature judgment upon the condi- 
tions of a truly successful life, it may fitly close this 
chapter : 

" I write, then, at this time, not to administer to you a 
lecture, nor to change you from what you really are, but to 
suggest some things which may possibly be of some practical 
value to you this coming term of school, which will be to you 
of superlative importance. 

" First of all, let me charge you to look wisely and watch- 
fully after your physical well-being. The importance of this 
is being constantly impressed' upon you, both by what you 
learn and what you see. Be sure and dress yourself warmly 
this winter, and see that the best conditions of warmth and 
pure air are supplied in your room. Allow of no strain too 
severe on your nervous system. Do not permit your laudable 
zeal in study to induce overwork. It is better for such as you 
to make haste slowly than to kindle the fire too hotly. I 
would then make this first point with myself, that I will look 
after the body first, and let other things rest on this as a ground 
condition ; and whatever is necessary to this I want you to have, 
suitable clothing, wholesome food, a pleasant room, and gener- 
ally comfortable conditions of living. All this is, as you know, 
consistent with rigorous physical discipline. It does not mean 
that you are to live a life of luxury or indolence, or of uncertain 
and nerveless exertion, but it is consistent with patient indus- 
try and vigorous effort. It only means that you are to care- 
fully consider your bodily habits, and adapt your habits of life 
to your capital of strength and vitality. With your lithe and 
active temperament, you are capable of the best things phys- 
ically under judicious care; without this, you can very easily 



98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



make shipwreck. I am the more careful to speak of this be- 
cause I am entirely certain that I have lost fully ten years of 
my life simply because I did not know how to use myself at 
the very start. I would repeat it, then — make it a point to 
take good care of yourself physically. If you have not now 
and do not secure a room-mate, so as to make it better for you 
than to be alone, by all means keep the room you have rented 
for yourself alone. The better arrangement, however, when 
your social and intellectual character is considered, is to have 
a room-mate, provided he is of the right stamp. 

''Let me say a word as to your intellectual life. Probably 
more than ought to be the case, you are likely to be judged by 
your fellow-men by purely intellectual and practical standards. 
The question will not be, What are you ? but, How much do 
you know? and, What can you do? Your power to influence 
and benefit your fellow-men will depend largely on the breadth 
and fineness of your culture, as well as your acquaintance with 
the principles and practice of your profession ; and inasmuch 
as the best results in this direction can come only from a cor- 
rect ideal and an established habit or course of life, I am sure 
that any well-considered suggestions on this subject may be, 
to some extent, serviceable. Of course you must know your 
profession. Common honesty requires this. There is no man 
before the public more really dishonest than he who professes 
a science and a practice like that of medicine without under- 
standing it. Be more careful to know than to seem to know. 
Discriminate with the utmost care between the great things 
and the small. A thousand little things may wait for your 
knowledge until you need them, and then you will know just 
where to find them ; but the great and fundamental matters 
in your calling should be as familiar as household words. The 
office of the school is simply to inaugurate a course of life, not 
to carry it forward to perfection ; hence, in the school, it is 
vastly more important that your work be thorough than that 
it be brilliant or extensive. * 

" But it is of your intellectual life in general that I would 
speak. He who knows only the matters of his profession and 
is noticeably ignorant on other matters can not succeed 
People want a man in a physician — one who has some breadth 
of adjustment in the kingdom of the truth. He who is a 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 



99 



good practitioner, and, in addition, is a cultured and manly 
man, will be likely to realize in any community, in the loog 
run, many times more patronage and more influence than the 
man who is equally skillful but lacking in the more general 
and outside qualifications to which I now refer. Hence I 
would urge upon you the importance of keeping up your lit- 
erary culture. Do this as a settled and inflexible principle. 
Do not allow any supposed press of duties to stand in the way 
of it. Just as nothing should be allowed to crowd out your 
Bible and your religion, so let nothing stand in the way of 
those great duties which you owe yourself as a man. What 
is needed for this is not much time, but a little time faithfully 
and wisely employed. Keep up a knowledge of the authors 
you have read in the school. Take some Latin author, as Vir- 
gil, and read it so frequently and regularly that you shall keep 
fresh your acquaintance with the language. It would be well, 
also, to do the same with the French and the German. You 
will find, in the end, that all this will tell immeasurably on your 
well-being as a man among men. It is your most sacred duty, 
as well as your just privilege and honor, to fit yourself to sit 
down in the company of the learned. You can only do this 
by patient, faithful, and laborious culture. 

"All this applies also to English literature. Form the 
habit of reading the best authors. Do not attempt too much 
at once, but have constantly in reading something that will 
bring you nearer other men. Your great hope in this life will 
consist in cultivating the society of cultured people, most of 
whom must be drawn to you by considerations outside of your 
profession. The well-known and standard works in English 
literature may become links of union between yourself and all 
who speak the English language. In this there is a hint as to 
your evenings. In so far as possible, I should prefer to turn 
away from medical matters during the evening hours. Take 
up something of an entirely different character, and it will 
give tone and zest to your whole mental experiences. You 
will do better work in your studies if you turn away from 
them habitually every day for something higher or more gen- 
eral in its bearing on life. 

" I wish I could say some helpful word to you on another 
and a much higher subject. I mean that of character. In this 



100 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



word is contained all of real worth in any individual. With- 
out any reference to meie qualifications, whether of this kind 
or that, the amount of real character in a man is the measure 
of his worth. And this is certainly under our personal decis- 
ion and control as nothing else is. Rich or poor, learned or 
unlearned, influential or obscure, it is possible for him who 
wills to form a positive, clean-cut, decided character. Here is 
his real personality, and here is to be his real value to himself 
and to his fellow-men. What we do is important, but what we 
are is ineffably more important. 

" One of the main factors in character is what we call 
judgment. This, combined with the power to do and to con- 
serve, practically makes up the man as an actual force in soci- 
ety. To say that any person has good judgment is to bestow 
on him a high commendation ; to say that one has a weak judg- 
ment is to make of him a fatal impeachment. It is well, then, 
for any man to direct his own special attention to the condi- 
tions of strength in this regard. Avoid hasty and superficial 
judgments — mere impressions, which we take up simply be- 
cause they suit our moods or our prejudices. Judgment is 
mainly a matter of thought, not feeling. Cultivate, then, a 
judicial habit of mind. Make it a point to give every one his 
due. Be candid, but be thorough and positive. In a word, 
see to it that you become a man of convictions, and that your 
convictions are sound. 

"This quality of mind comes out into what we call prac- 
tical sense, a thing upon which our own success depends as 
upon nothing else; for, after all, it is not what we wish or 
purpose or say that determines our adjustment to our fellow- 
men, but the decisions we do actually make and the things we 
actually achieve. ... In your own consciousness, then, lay 
greatest emphasis upon your judgment, and the way in which 
it can be carried into effect. Do not make it so much a matter 
of word as of deed. ZSot what we promise ourselves or others, 
but what we effect, will fix our standing with our fellows. 

" In this matter of character, of course, the most vital 
element is the moral one. Be satisfied with nothing short of 
the most thorough truthfulness , not merely in business and in 
language, but in thought and feeling. Cultivate and maintain 
a downright honesty. I fully believe you are doing this, yet 



IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT. 



101 



too much emphasis can not be placed on this matter. I hope 
that you will begin your life with the resolution that nothing 
foul or impure shall pass your own lips, and, in so far as you 
can prevent it, your ears too. As you move among men and 
families, let there be no taint or foulness because of your 
presence. 

" And I would say one word touching the matter of personal 
religion. Cling to it and maintain it as for your life. Do not 
in this thing be time-serving and compromising. Your best 
interests for time and eternity lie in the direction of positive- 
ness and consistency in this regard. Calculate, then, on doing 
your duty fully and regularly in this regard. Make it a mat- 
ter of principle to be in your place in the church, the prayer- 
meeting, and the Sabbath-school. Let it be understood as a 
matter of course that you will stand in your lot and place in 
all religious assemblages that have a just claim upon you. 
Even this winter I would make it a point to attend the prayer- 
meeting every Wednesday evening, unless there are impera- 
tive reasons against it. 

" One other thing I would call your attention to ; namely, 
your social character and adjustments. It is a great thing to 
be admitted into good society. In order to do this it is neces- 
sary to cultivate the qualities which render your presence de- 
sirable. It is also necessary to observe carefully the social 
opportunities and facilities which are afforded you. Make it 
a point to cultivate any relations which are likely to be help- 
ful to you and to elevate you. Do not throw away a valuable 
acquaintance or friend. If any door is open to you for social 
intercourse, especially with families which would help and 
raise you, be sure and enter; and when you go out, leave it 
ajar for another occasion. 

''But I had not thought to write at such length. My 
special wish was to put down some thoughts which have been 
running in my mind, more or less, with reference to you. In 
my early life I had to stumble and blunder along as best I 
could, with little help from any one. I clearly see how it 
might have been much better with me, and so I feel a desire 
that the very best may come to you." 



102 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



CHAPTER IX. 

IN MEMORIAM— 1884. 

THE close of the Institute year, in the spring of 
1883, was darkly shadowed by the sudden death 
of the Rev. Dr. Henry Bannister, who had been Pro- 
fessor of Exegetical Theology since 1856. In de- 
scribing this event, Dr. Hemenway wrote : " It is 
safe to say that no other death has so stirred our 
community to its very foundations. The influence 
he has exerted in shaping and developing the inner 
life of the Institute has been most potent, so that in 
its present form the institution is as much the ex- 
pression of his mind as of any one who has had a 
share in its work." The resolutions adopted by the 
faculty were prepared by Dr. Hemenway, and con- 
tained this testimonial : " For twenty-seven years he 
has been associated with the instruction and conduct 
of the school, and in all these years his career has 
been distinguished for the thoroughness and zeal with 
which he devoted himself to the work of his depart- 
ment and the general welfare of the institution. He 
brought to the chair which he so long and usefully 
filled rare qualifications, uniting the experience of the 
teacher with the aptitudes, habits, and attainments of 
the scholar. By unremitting study, he kept abreast of 
the most recent results of Biblical criticism. He was 



IN M E MORI A M. 



103 



a wide reader and an accurate and profound thinker. 
Hundreds now preaching are indebted to his teach- 
ings for the evangelical scripturalness and the simple 
directness which characterize their preaching." 

At the beginning of the summer vacation of 1883 
Dr. Hemenway found himself not only unusually 
worn by the year's work, but warned by serious 
symptoms of disease to take active measures for re- 
cuperation. The summer months were, therefore, 
mainly spent at Saratoga and Clifton Springs, with 
favorable but not wholly satisfactory results. 

In September he entered with zeal upon the new 
school year. An additional class was organized by 
him in the Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 
and his lectures on this subject were listened to with 
marked enthusiasm. Although his work wearied him 
to an unusual degree, he sought relief from no duties. 
He would often return from the class-room or pulpit 
so exhausted as to be unable to do his usual study 
and writing. He expressed to Mrs. Hemenway the 
growing conviction that his public work must soon 
be given up. Yet, outside the home walls, his cour- 
age and activity gave no sign of flagging, and pre- 
cluded apprehension. In the spring of 1884 he 
yielded to an urgent request to take a Bible-class in 
the Sunday-school. The book of the Revelation was 
taken up, and the numbers in attendance rapidly in- 
creased. Among the words spoken here, which 
proved to be among his last public utterances, these 
may be quoted : 

"It is possible for me, on this first day of February, 1884, 
unimportant as I am, to live the life of God, to live just as he 



104 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



would have me, as truly as for the martyrs and the great men 
of the Church. 

"The great fact of God's personal love to us is the one 
supreme truth which heaven has for us, and one great use of 
earthly loves is to reveal to us, in some measure, this love of 
God. If my mother had had the resources of Christ, how 
much she would have done for me ! Christ loves me more 
than my mother. The best earthly love may fail me, not that 
of Christ." 

On the evening of March 13th, a meeting of 
the faculty was prolonged to a late hour. Returning 
home, Dr. Hemenway was unable to sleep. The 
morning brought further symptoms of illness, and yet 
only a few days' absence from his classes was antici- 
pated by any one. As he did not improve, the ex- 
pedient of a visit to his son in Kalamazoo was recom- 
mended by his physician. This was followed by 
greater weakness. The best diagnosis indicated a 
slight but constant intestinal hemorrhage as the 
probable cause of this slow but steady decline. As 
he was able he directed the affairs of the home and 
his classes. He assigned private work to the latter, 
saying that they should not meet again until called. 
I saw him often, and part of the time daily, during 
the five weeks of his illness. He usually lay upon a 
lounge, noticeably weak, yet calm, cheerful, and pos- 
sessing all the vivacity and clearness of his mind un- 
diminished. It was in these days that he wrote the 
description of the old school-house, contained in an 
earlier chapter. He reviewed lists of books to be 
purchased for the library, of which he had been cus- 
todian for many years. According to a request of 
the faculty in a recent meeting, he marked in a cat- 



IN MEMORIA M. 



105 



alogue the names of those alumni whom he regarded 
as suitable candidates for special honors. But the 
exhausting disease was slowly doing its fatal work, 
and on Wednesday, the 16th of April, it was fully 
recognized that the end was near. During this last 
week his old and valued friend, the Rev. Dr. R. M. 
Hatfield, called and prayed at his bedside, to his 
heartily expressed satisfaction. The last night came 
.at length — that of the 18th of April. It may be best 
described in the words spoken by Bishop Ninde at 
the funeral services: 

"It was a night of great prostration and suffering. His 
extreme weakness made respiration very difficult, and his ef- 
forts to speak were very seldom intelligible. Toward morning 
he touching^ said: 'I did not know I was so sick.' After 
prayer had been offered at his bedside, he reached out his 
arms and embraced each of his sons, and then the wife— whose 
devotion had been so untiring — kissing them his last farewell.* 
Thus he died, in that home which had been to him the most 
delightful of all earthly retreats, surrounded by the loved and 
loving, whose society had more than satisfied his heart's 
earthly cravings, and in the midst of a community where he 
was widely known and universally revered and honored." 

The funeral services were held at the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Evanston, April 22d, 
and were attended by the faculties and students of 
the Institute and Northwestern University, and by a 
large number of alumni, ministers from neighboring 
conferences, and friends from Chicago and Evanston. 
The Church and family pew were appropriately 

*The other surviving member of his immediate family was Ruth 
Lilian, infant daughter of Henry B. and Lillie Bradley Hemen way. 
The latter died about a year before Dr. Hemenway's decease, and, 
anticipating death, had requested that her little daughter should be 
baptized by him at her funeral. This touching ceremony was the 
last baptism at which he ever officiated. 

8 



106 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



draped. Many floral offerings had been sent as to- 
kens of affectionate remembrance, prominent among 
which were a chair from the faculty and students of 
the Institute, a cross and crown from the Sunday- 
school, a harp from his Bible-class, a sheaf and sickle 
from the South Evanston Church (his last pastoral 
charge), an open Bible and a broken column from 
personal friends. The casket was borne by students 
of the Institute, and followed by the pall-bearers, 
Judge Goodrich, Mr. Orrington Lunt, Mr. Frank P. 
Crandon, and Drs. Hitchcock, Bonbright, Marcy, 
Axtell, and Sheppard. 

The services began with the singing of the hymn, 
"My Jesus, as thou wilt," which was read by Rev. 
Washington Gardner, of Kalamazoo, Mich. Presi- 
dent Cummings, of the Northwestern University, then 
read the selections from the Scriptures which had been 
prepared and read by Dr. Hemenway at the funeral 
of Dr. Bannister a year before. 

President Ninde, of the Institute, read an admi- 
rable biographical sketch, which need not be repro- 
duced here. In closing, he said: 

"The characteristics of such a man can not be summed up 
in a brief paragraph. His intellect was penetrating, incisive, 
and luminous. He seized truth with the promptness of intu- 
ition, and developed it in the orderly methods of the most 
rigorous logic. He rarely revealed the materials of his think- 
ing in the rough. He disclosed only the finished product. 
This was true of small matters as well as great. Thus his 
views were uniformly expressed with a certain sententiousness 
that made them impressive upon other minds. He was very 
positive in his conclusions when reached, and held them with 
great tenacity, yet with no disposition to obtrude them upon 



IN ME MORI AM. 107 

others who might differ from him. His learning was copious, 
choice, and serviceable. In the line of his special studies his 
scholarship was critical, profound, and accurate. Every intel- 
lectual task was performed with the most conscientious fidelity. 
As an instance of this, when he accepted his appointment as 
one of the revisers of the Church Hymnal, he gave to the work 
his absorbed attention through an entire vacation — possibly by 
these strenuous labors hastening that fatal event which makes 
sad so many hearts to-day. 

"But, back of the rich and cultured intellect, was a spirit 
so pure, so elevated, so genial, so unselfish, that words seem 
empty and powerless to express its nobleness. A more unself- 
ish soul I never knew; never asking aught for himself, ever 
considerate of the interests of his associates and friends. 
Words and acts of this sainted man, too sacred for publicity, 
wonderfully drew my own heart toward him. And so there is 
upon me to-day — and doubtless others share the feeling — an 
oppressive sense of loneliness. Bannister gone, Hemenway 
gone! The old familiar places seem vacant and unutterably 
sad without them. The Holy Oracles themselves seem almost 
mute, now that their voices are hushed in the stillness of 
the tomb. 

" I can not close without referring in a word to the relig- 
ious character of our departed friend. He has been well-nigh 
a life-long Christian. The religious life in him was thoroughly 
pervasive. It seemed to penetrate every fiber of his moral 
being. Without being demonstrative or strongly emotional, his 
nature seemed thoroughly possessed of an intelligent, genial, 
soul-satisfying piety." 

Rev. Dr. Miner Raymond was the next speaker. 
He said that, having been associated for nearly a 
score of years with Dr. Hemenway in the work of 
teaching, it seemed not inappropriate that he should 
say a few words of him as a teacher : 

" A successful teacher is familiar with what he teaches ; 
not merely with those outlines of fundamental ideas which 



« 

108 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



thinkers, not specialists, are wont to have, but he must be 
familiar with the minutiae and the details of his profession. 
More than this, all sciences interpenetrate, yet they may be 
classified in clusters, since some of them are more intimately 
related to each other than they are to others. The teacher 
must, therefore, be qualified to point out both these intimate 
and these remote relations. In a word, he must be a man of 
broad culture. 

"Again, the successful teacher must be 'apt to teach;' he 
must have what is in common parlance called ' tact,' which is 
more of the nature of an endowment than of an acquirement. 
It is a sort of genius, by which its possessor can come down 
from above to the plane of the pupil, and, through sympathy 
with the pupil's requirements, get power to direct his thinking 
and lead him upward. 

"The successful teacher must be an enthusiast in the 
specialty that engages his attention. It is true, a man other- 
wise qualified for his work may, from a conscientious sense of 
duty, be so faithful and efficient as to be successful, but evi- 
dently it will be far better if his heart is interested in what 
he does. This is true in any avocation in life. One whose 
work is drudgery to him will accomplish but little that is val- 
uable. Even if a worker's enthusiasm is inspired by an over- 
estimate of the relative value of his work as compared with 
that of other employments, still it will be no detriment to his 
efficiency and success, but contrariwise will be every way ad- 
vantageous. But, be this as it may, surely the teacher of re- 
ligion has, in the intrinsic value of his work, a rational basis 
for the most intense interest. 

"Dr. Hemenway possessed all the endowments and attain- 
ments of which we have spoken, in an eminent degree, so 
that it may be said that he had few equals. 

" I wish to say a word of his interest in the personal wel- 
fare of the students. Somehow he succeeded in making an 
early acquaintance with them, sympathized with them in their 
wants and wishes, aided them as opportunity and ability al- 
lowed, was their friend while here, and followed them in their 
after history; always evincing an undying, all-absorbing, un- 
selfish interest in their welfare. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



109 



" As an associate, I may say of him : His counsels were 
wise and were usually adopted ; but if conclusions were differ- 
ent, his co-operation was invariably cordial. In all these 
years of my association with him, never an action performed, 
nor a word said, nor an intimation, look, or expression, has 
come from him that has made upon me the least unpleasant 
impression. Our intercourse from the beginning unto the end 
has been characterized by unsullied, undisturbed reciprocity. 

"As I stand here to-day, I ask myself — can any one in- 
quire, Is life worth living? If the inquiry be made, surely the 
only answer possible, looking upon that coffin, and mindful of 
the history of him whose remains it contains, is that life may 
be made not only worth the living, but of incalculable value to 
him who lives it. But we can not avoid the reflection that 
that which makes our earthly existence of value to us, is the 
fact that it is inseparably connected with immortality. The 
present can not be adequately conceived apart from the future. 
Hence we think of the body here and of the spirit yonder. I 
seem by faith to see the three who have gone — Dempster, Ban- 
nister, and Hemenway. If the lives these have lived, the his- 
tories they have made, be the first-fruits of man's being, what 
must the full harvest be? If this be visible in the early dawn, 
what shall these be in the perfect day ? Dr. Hemenway has 
gone, and we would not call him back — our hearts say, Go, my 
brother ; to thee to die is eternal gain ; go, and farewell till I 
come to thee." 

Professor Bradley spoke in behalf of the alumni 
as follows : 

"It is my privilege to bring here a brief tribute to the 
teacher we revered and the friend we loved. I know I cannot 
represent all who have been blessed by his instructions or in- 
spired by his friendship. Yet imperfect and hasty as this 
offering to his memory must be, it is at least fragrant with 
precious recollections and inspired by the sincerest admiration 
and love. 

" First among the powerful impressions which Dr. Hem- 
enway made upon us, his pupils, I place the emphasis which 
he ever laid, by precept and example, upon the sacred and 



110 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



precious character of truth. 'Buy the truth and sell it not;' 
' buy it at all cost and sell it not at any price,' were his injunc- 
tions. Because God's word is truth, because Christ is 'the 
truth,' they deserve absolute allegiance from us. Sham, pre- 
tention, and deception he abhorred. As in doctrine so in 
character, he demanded, as chief and fundamental, genuine- 
ness, sincerity, and truth. To many of us, lam sure, he made 
the truth more sacred and supreme. From this characteristic 
and unswerving devotion to truth sprang, I believe, other im- 
portant traits of character, such as his fidelity to duty, loyalty 
to his convictions, his skill and justice as a critic, his clear and 
accurate judgment, and his marvelous power of analysis. 

" For some years delicate health has combined with other 
causes to bar him from any regular attention to general soci- 
ety. His home, the Institute, and the church are the three 
points through which the perfect circle of his life has been 
drawn. But how minutely faithful he was to all his duties in 
these ! No man could love his home and his family more de- 
votedly. In the public and social services of the church he 
was ever active and ever welcome ; but for more than twenty- 
five years the class-room in the Institute has been the center 
of his life. The professor's chair has been his throne of 
power. In my experience East and West, as student and 
teacher, I have known of no one who seemed to me more ac- 
curate, more inspiring, or more impressive as a teacher. He 
did not emphasize forms and methods, he did not- relish the 
routine of a drill-master, but the spirit and power of the sub- 
jects with which he dealt were ever present in his lecture- 
room. He imparted to us his life, his spirit, his experience. 
It was living truth which he wished us to appropriate— truth 
to be experienced by the heart, to become vital and capable of 
imparting life, so that the preaching might be, in substance, 
the preacher's own testimony, a personal experience of Him 
who is the truth and the life. 

" It is not easy to be intensely loyal to one's own church 
and still broad and just in one's appreciation of other branches 
of the church of Christ. Dr. Hemenway's example helps us 
solve this problem. He could enjoy the silence of a Quaker 
service; he warmly admired the character of the Congrega- 



IN MEMO RI AM. 



Ill 



tional ministry ; he preferred the simple rites with which the 
Presbyterians celebrate the Lord's supper ; he commended for 
imitation the spirit of reverence and worship so prominent 
with the Episcopalians ; he warmly cherished his own cordial 
relations with sister churches here and elsewhere; and yet how 
intensely loyal he was to his own beloved church ! ' No one,' 
I have heard him say, ' no one could be happier or more per- 
fectly contented in his church relations than I am.' He loved 
the apostolic spirit and fervent hymns and testimonies of 
Methodism, and was in perfect accord with the doctrines of 
his church. He was catholic in his sympathies and loyal in 
his personal allegiance. 

" He taught his pupils to value and use logical analysis. 
Every subject he took up was divided with such clearness and 
discrimination that we felt he was not applying an artificial 
system, but, with wonderful insight, discovering the actual 
joints and cleavage of the truth. 

" In all Dr. Hemenway's instructions he held before us 
clearly defined and lofty ideals. And then how sound was his 
practical judgment! He had extensive and accurate learning; 
but he had more than knowledge — he had wisdom. The 
power ' to see things as they are, and to do things as they 
ought to be done,' was his in a marked degree. His strong 
common sense, sanctified and consecrated to the holiest ends, 
was a tower of strength to all who sought its help. 

"I think that no one part of Dr. Hemenway's great nature 
was less widely understood than the depth of his sympathy 
and the warmth of his heart. He was not demonstrative, and 
he did not ask demonstration in return. He had a warmer ap- 
preciation of his students than they generally knew. He sel- 
dom praised them to their faces, but in this he was consistent. 
No doubt he valued appreciation ; but it would have been im- 
possible to deceive him with flattery, and it was most difficult 
to praise him. He would turn aside the sincerest words of 
admiration. He was naturally reserved; but let the slightest 
appeal of real need touch what seemed a wall of reserve, and 
there came forth refreshing streams of wise counsel and heart- 
felt sympathy. Where shall we turn for one to fill his place 
when we desire again such sympathy and advice as he has 



112 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



given us? Perhaps the freest sign of the inner warmth of his 
nature came out in his use and exposition of our hymns. He 
cultivated in the hearts of some of us a new love for these ex- 
pressions of Christian feeling; and among his favorites were 
those which breathed the most ardent love for Christ. 

" There is a deep regret to-day, mingled with our sorrow, 
that more of the results of Dr. Hemenway's rare powers and 
great attainments have not been written and published, so as 
to be more wide-reaching in their blessed influence. How 
well we recall the hours when he stood before us pouring 
forth a wealth of thought enshrined in the choicest forms of 
expression, 1 apples of gold in pictures of silver,' or like show- 
ers of pearls, a few of which we saved, while the greater part 
was lost. We can hardly endure the thought of such a seem- 
ing waste. We treasure our small savings as more precious 
than jewels. But our very regret should be to us an inspira- 
tion. I think that Dr. Hemenway underestimated the unique 
force of his own utterances, but he held the truths which he 
presented as immeasurably precious. Nothing would have 
more fully met his wishes, or proved a more fitting memorial 
to him we love and mourn, than our grasping those truths 
and living them in his spirit. So shall his influence live as 
he would most desire. We may overestimate the influence of 
books, but not of living epistles. In and through our lives 
the teachings of our translated instructor may live and multi- 
ply till the end of time. To-day many a one of us makes the 
prayer of Elisha his own : ' I pray thee let a double portion of 
thy spirit be upon me.' " 

Rev. Lewis Curts, pastor of the Evanston Church r 
spoke of the relations of Dr. Hemenway to the church 
and to the pastor in Evanston : 

" We could think of him as a man of broad culture ; but 
we may thank God that he was not too broad for the prayer- 
meeting. The Sunday-school teachers, the superintendent, 
and the church thank God that Dr. Hemenway never grew to 
be above the Sunday-school. He was one of the most cul- 
tured in the art of sacred song, and yet he did not become so 



IN MEMORIAM. 



113 



refined in his ideas of music that he was not willing to sing 
with the great congregation or the little class-meeting or the 
little prayer-meeting. We think of him as a great teacher; 
and yet every one who has been his pastor will thank God 
that Dr. Hemenway was willing to sit in his pew and be 
taught, imperfect as his teachers might be. How the pastor 
will miss his encouraging look, miss his voice in song ! How 
* he will be missed in the Sunday-school, missed everywhere ! 
How appropriate is this harp of flowers! He has in his 
hands a golden harp to-day, and sings the song of Moses 
and the Lamb. This beautiful chair is a symbol of his 
throne of power while here ; but I hear the word of the Mas- 
ter saying: ' To him that overcometh will I grant to sit down 
with me in my throne.' He has gone from us, but he is with 
the church of the first-born and the spirits of just men made 
perfect. It will be but a little while before we shall meet 
him." 

The services in the church were concluded by 
singing the hymn, "Rock of ages, cleft for me." 
The burial took place in Rose Hill Cemetery, where 
the services were conducted by the Rev. Dr. Ridgaway. 

The following minute was drawn up by Dr. Ridg- 
away at the request of the faculty of the Institute : 

" Within the short space of another year we, as a faculty, 
mourn the loss of anpther one of our colleagues. A year ago 
it was the veteran and revered Dr. Bannister, who was sud- 
denly removed from our side, at the end of a career longer than 
that which is usually allotted to diligent workers ; now it is our 
beloved Dr. Hemenway, who falls in the fullness of his powers, 
and at an age when, in the course of nature, there was reason 
to hope for him many more years of active usefulness. Words 
are insufficient to express the deep sense of sorrrow which we 
feel in view of the loss we have sustained in this added be- 
reavement. The fewness of our numbers as a faculty, the 
closeness of our relations, the identity of our work, the sym- 
pathy of our aims, and the oneness of our faith, bring about an 



114 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



intimacy and kindliness of intercourse which make us like one 
family, so that we grieve for his death as for a near kinsman, 
as though, indeed, the dark shadow had fallen upon the hearth- 
stone of each of us. 

"We grieve the more, however, because of the immeas- 
urable loss which the Institute has sustained. While gratefully 
recognizing the immense and truly admirable work which he 
accomplished, a work in which he lives to-day in hundreds of 
his former students, and which is his most fitting monument, 
yet we had fondly anticipated that the work hitherto done was 
but the broad foundation for a still nobler superstructure He 
had acquired a ripeness of scholarship, a richness of experi- 
ence, a facility of expression, an ascendency over mind — that 
comes alone from thorough mastery — which must have made 
his instructions, in the very difficult and important department 
of Biblical exegesis, of inestimable benefit with every succeed- 
ing year. To speak of the loss sustained in his own particular 
department, is but m eagerly to state the whole calamity which 
has befallen our cherished school. His entire being was 
wrought into its structure and history. Identified with it from 
youth, he was with it in its small beginnings, had stood by it 
in all its vicissitudes, and through all his vigorous manhood he 
served it with a zeal that knew no abatement, a wisdom which 
was never at fault, and a conscientiousness that allowed neither 
slackness nor diversion. He could not for a moment separate 
himself from Garrett; and, consequently, all that he was — in 
the spiritual and moral excellence of his character as a man 
and Christian, the force and beauty of his eloquence as a 
preacher of the gospel, the exactness, depth, and variety of his 
attainments, in his marvelous power of Biblical exposition, 
both as writer and teacher, in his scrupulous fidelity to all the 
^public and private duties of life — he belonged to the Institute, 
and helped mightily to augment its fair fame and usefulness. 
His life is another striking illustration of the law that con- 
centration is the grand element of strength, and that he lives 
the most who most truly loves God and serves his fellow- 
creatures. 

" In parting with the bodily presence of this our honored 
co-laborer in the sacred employment to which the church had 



IN MEMO A" 1AM. 



115 



called him and us, we cheerfully bear this tribute to his mem- 
ory to be recorded on our minutes. We would also assure 
Mrs. Hemenway, the sons, and all surviving kindred, of our 
heart-felt sympathy in th^ir affliction, and of our sincere 
prayers that the God whom he adored, Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, may be their unfailing strength." 

The news of Dr. Hemenway's death caused wide- 
spread surprise and sorrow. Letters and resolutions 
of sympathy sent to the family showed the extent of 
this public bereavement. The Vermont conference, 
his old home conference, received the intelligence 
while in session, and hastened to express its sorrow 
and sympathy and high appreciation of his character.* 
An eye-witness wrote : " Such a thrill as went through 
the Vermont conference, when the telegram announc- 
ing Dr. Hemen way's death was read, I never wit- 
nessed before." (Rev. Ezra Walker.) The trustees 
of the Institute resolved "that the school, where he 
has so long and faithfully labored, and to whose in- 
terests he was so thoroughly devoted, has sustained 
an irreparable loss, and that the cause of sacred learn- 
ing has been deprived of one of its brightest orna- 
ments. By his thorough scholarship, marvelous ana- 
lytical and critical methods, hundreds of young men, 
preparing for the ministry, have gained a clearer in- 
sight into the divine word. By the singular noble- 
ness of his character, he has illustrated the power 
and blessedness of divine grace." f The Chicago 
Preachers' Meeting! and the Alumni Association of 

*The committee consisted of Rev. Drs. J. C. W. Coxe and A. L. 
Cooper. 

t Signed by Mr. Orrington Lunt, Secretary. 

J Their committee was: Revs. A. W. Patton, D. D., N. H. Ax tell, 
D. D., and W. H. Holmes. 



116 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



the Institute* passed similar resolutions. The Con- 
gregational church at Glencoe, and the South Evans- 
ton Methodist Episcopal church, expressed in strong 
terms their love and admiration for their former 
pastor. 

The press of Evanston and Chicago, and the Meth- 
odist papers throughout the church, gave suitable recog- 
nition to the public and connectional interest in Dr. 
Hemenway's life and death. Yet even the notices in 
the Methodist Advocates showed that his modest and 
retiring nature had prevented an adequate apprecia- 
tion of his unique , character. The following is con- 
densed from an article in the Michigan Christian Ad- 
vocate, by the Rev. Charles M. Stuart: 

" It is almost impossible for one with the freshness of the 
loss upon him to speak calmly or judicially of his qualities as 
a man and teacher. So striking were they that, even under 
circumstances less trying to the judgment, it would be difficult 
to set them forth adequately without seeming, to those not ac- 
quainted with him, extravagantly eulogistic. No man, how- 
ever, could better afford to dispense with obituary honors. 
His undying eulogy will be found in the hearts of a gener- 
ation of students into whom he breathed the love of virtue 
and the enthusiasm of a true science. 

"As a teacher, perhaps nothing was* more characteristic 
than his precision. In every detail of the class-room he was 
exact, methodical. Upon the stroke of the hour he was at his 
desk, and his mild look of rebuke to late comers was in itself 
a picturesque lecture on punctuality. Prodigal enough of his 
own time, for the sake of his students he never traded a mo- 
ment upon theirs. This habit was carried, with excellent 
effect, into his use of language. His lectures on Biblical Intro- 
duction, could they be reproduced as he delivered them, would 
be models of precision and lucidity of statement. He recog- 



Revs. T. B. Hilton and A. W. Patten, D. D., committee. 



IN ME MORI AM. 



117 



nized that no two words were exactly synonymous, and his 
selection seemed to us little less than the choice of a conscience 
profoundly impressed with the moral quality of speech. So, 
too, in thought. In him there was no confusion of ideas. He 
knew what he knew, and the grounds of his knowledge ; and 
he was quick to discern the student's uncertainty about the 
things he thought he knew. His precision in quoting author- 
ities was also notable. He fully shared Sumner's high scorn 
of the trick of quoting a man's words to the distortion of 
his idea. 

"As a teacher, Professor Hemenway was not only precise, 
but positive and conservative. One element of his strength 
was the tenacity with which he held3o old and tested truths. 
Novelty was not with him a reason for change of opinion. 
So-called ' new ' truths were canvassed and weighed. If their 
claims were valid he gave adherence, not because they were 
new, but because they were true. Eager for all light which 
modern research might throw upon Biblical questions, he was 
conservative of the old standards, and duly impressed his 
pupils with the value, in times of agitation and controversy, 
of making haste slowly in forming conclusions different from 
the old and well-established. To an information which to us 
students seemed encyclopedic, he added the teacher's crown- 
ing quality : the ability to inspire enthusiasm for study. A 
poor recitation in his class was. the exception, and anything 
like indifference to the subject under consideration was im- 
possible. 

"Highly valued as Professor Hemenway was as a teacher, 
he was not less esteemed as a man. Only by his intimates 
could the real beauty of his character be appreciated. He was 
prevented, by ill-health and family duties, from being dis- 
tinguished in the social circle, which he would have adorned 
by his disposition and attainments. His interest in the per- 
sonal concern of the students was unremitting and almost 
womanly in its tenderness. Many a young man carries to his 
work to-day the inspiring remembrance of this good man's 
cheerful and helpful counsel and advice. His virtues were of 
the rugged order. The wells of affection were deep in him. 
His emotional nature was rich and profound. His lack, if 



118 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

lack it be considered, was in the display of his feelings. He 
was self-contained to a fault. 

" Once only did I hear him preach. It was during a re- 
vival in First church, Evanston. The exhortation was most 
touching. He spoke extemporaneously. His sentences were 
short, direct, simple ; his elocution at first nervous and some- 
what over-accentuated ; his gestures few but emphatic. When 
fairly launched on his subject the periods lengthened, the 
voice became charged with emotion, and the climax reached 
in thrilling impressiveness. 

"And now he is gone! But he is not dead to us who 
knew him as man and teacher. He gave us his own best 
nature, and by so much made us better. The grave receives 
his mortal body, but the immortal self lives 

'Embalmed in memory, with things that are holy, 
By the Spirit that is undying.'" 

The number of letters received from the alumni 
and other friends by the family and the Committee of 
Publication is very large, and there is a remarkable 
unanimity in the expression made. A few might 
well stand as types for all. They have deepened and 
confirmed the impression made by the man himself. 
Since all can not be quoted without filling the vol- 
ume, we must content ourselves with typical extracts 
from a limited number. I know he sometimes felt 
that the students misunderstood him, and that the 
relation of a teacher seemed to him less cordial than 
that of a pastor. We may hope that he knows now 
tlie gratitude and affection which the following ex- 
tracts express. A missionary in China writes : " I 
owe to him a lasting debt of gratitude for the exact- 
ness and thoroughness of his instructions. The ex- 
ample of his devoted and sensible Christian life is a 
constant help to one who is called upon to deal with 



IN MEM OR I A M. 



119 



all sorts and conditions of men, especially in a heathen 
land." 1 From India comes this testimony: "The 
class-meetings in Heck Hall were always rich sea- 
sons to my soul because he led them." 2 From other 
letters we cull the following brief tributes : " His ex- 
position of hymns, the sweetness of his singing, and 
the cheerfulness of his religious experience made the 
class-meetings of the Institute most enjoyable." 3 
" His sermons were models of pith and purity, and 
woukj invariably draw an exceptional audience." 4 
" His words, his singing, and every movement have 
been a precious inspiration to me many times since I 
left Evanston." 5 "I learned to love him ardently, 
and his instruction and personality produced a greater 
impression upon me than those of any other man, except 
my father." 6 "I learned to prize his teachings so 
highly that I tried to preserve in writing almost every- 
thing which I heard from his lips." 7 " I have ever re- 
membered the service he rendered me by wise coun- 
sel at a critical time with sincere gratitude." 8 " The 
fragrance of his holy life has gone out into all the 
church." 9 "I shall ever feel thankful to God for 
having known him as an instructor and friend." 10 
" His clear discernment of truth and precise state- 
ment of it, his warm and genuine sympathy, and 
his personal interest in me, made him the one man 
of all living to whom I have looked for instruc- 
tion, counsel, and help in my life-work." 11 " He was 
one of the great standard-bearers of the church. No 

i Rev. M. C. Wilcox. 2 Rev. J. U. Lawson. ^ev. E. G. W. Hall. 
* Prof. John Poucher, D. D. 5 Rev. Wm. Dawe. 6 Rev. E. M. Glas- 
gow. 7 p r of. E. M. Holmes. » Rev. A. L. Cooper, D. D. 9 Rev. O. L. 
Fisher. iQRev. J. S. Chadwick, D. D. « Rev. A. E. Griffith. 



120 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



death outside of my family could have come nearer to 
me." 12 " My beloved teacher, my true and gracious 
.friend, my trusted counselor, my inspiring exem- 
plar." 13 " His firm, calm simplicity of manner and 
conversation, and his exalted Christian character, 
made a deep impression on my mind." 14 " The in- 
fluence ot a few words he spoke to me one day, years 
ago, in the library of the Institute, has been the 
source of almost measureless support and encourage- 
ment during trials since. Some day I hope to tell 
him how much he did lor me." 15 

The expressions of other friends were not less 
emphatic. Names can not well be given here, and 
only a few sentences may be quoted. A gentleman 
in whose home he was entertained during a General 
Conference wrote : " His presence with us was a ben- 
ediction." A parishioner at Montpelier, Vt. : " How 
much my life has been enriched by his ministry here, 
only the eternal years can measure." A minister who 
was never his pupil wrote: "I, among thousands, am 
also a debtor to Dr. Hemenway, whose influence I 
felt long before I met him." 

From other letters are culled the following : 
" Whenever he spoke, his words came to me like a 
benediction." " To Dr. Hemenway I owe more for 
spiritual progress and insight than to any other one 
person." But the veil can not be drawn from the per- 
sonal sorrow and love which such a death discloses to 
those most deeply bereaved. A neighbor and friend 
for thirty years said : " O, if you could only tell how 



12 Prof. E. L. Parks, D. D. 18 Rev. C. H. Morgan, Ph. D. i*R ev . 
M. M. McCreight. i&Rev. J. W. Richards. 



IN MEMORIAM. 1 2 1 

much we loved him!" But when we attempt to ex- 
press the deep things of life, the value of pure and 
unselfish character, the power of noble and consistent 
Christian living, the delight one feels in the fit em- 
bodiment iu words of true and beautiful thought, the 
affection which a great and good friend inspires, then 
we realize that we are attempting the impossible. 

To the alumni of the Institute, whose admiration 
for Dr. Hemenway has occasioned this volume, no 
words spoken here will seem extravagant. They are 
much .more likely to be regarded inadequate. They 
might appear to other readers the unstinted praises ot 
admiring pupils, unless accompanied by the testi- 
mony of those not under such obligations, and with a 
broader knowledge of men and things. Such wit- 
ness we have from the Rev. Dr. Arthur Edwards, 
editor of the Northwestern Christian Advocate; the 
Rev. Dr. J. M. Buckley, editor of the Christian Ad- 
vocate ; Miss Jane M. Bancroft, Ph. D., formerly 
Dean of the Woman's College, in Evanston ; Miss 
Frances E. Willard ; the Rev. Dr. Isaac Crook, of 
Louisville, Ky. ; and Mr. Frank P. Crandon, of 
Evanston. Each contribution tells its own' interest- 
ing and valuable story. 

DR. EDWARDS. 

One's regard for a man like Dr. Hemenway is very sure 
to be of the most genuine quality. Certain men attract irre- 
sistibly ; and he who is attracted, sometimes finds at last that 
he has been a victim of his own self-interest. Other men seem 
to attract because they are unselfish, and you may be sure that 
your regard for them is solely a tribute to their genuine worth. 
Dr. Hemenway won his friends slowly, but they were quite 
sure to remain friendly to the end. I knew him at arms'- 

9 



122 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



length for some years, but our common service on the com- 
mittee to prepare the Hymnal, now in use by the church, 
brought us closely together. Of course I found him true in 
all our formal relations, but I felt drawn to him by reason of 
the deeper man which lay concealed at first beneath the surface 
of the outer personality. To most people he seemed reticent ; 
but he was, in fact, one of the most sociable and ready talkers 
I have ever known. Once you broke the outer crust, you 
were sure to discover a thorough companion, if indeed you 
were entitled to the discovery and the confidence it implied. 
Our long journeys to the committee's meetings, and protracted 
service together, revealed to me, and to all the committee, 
one of the rarest men in our own or any other church. The 
Doctor was grave in demeanor; but in the restful moments we 
gave ourselves in the intervals of close work, he joined in the 
fun with a zest which is one of the best proofs of the genuine 
dignity in a confident, self-poised, and candid man. True 
humor often consists in the intentional violation of logical re- 
lations; and the genuine humorist, by the very excellence of 
his fun, manifests the firm texture of his mind. In the mo- 
ments of which I speak, the heart and brain of Dr. Hemenway 
were often revealed at their best, and I am sure that those of 
the committee who survive enjoy the memories of our recrea- 
tion somewhat as they do those of our soberer work. Some 
men "go to pieces" in your estimation because of what is re- 
vealed when humorous intercourse has put them off their 
guard. Look into Dr. Hemenway's heart or head, however, 
through whatever window, you were sure to discover nothing 
but the strong, the good, and the pure. He was instinctively 
a devout man. Sometimes, to try a hymn, or to get at the 
"understanding" with which it should be sung, we often gave 
it voice in two or three or more verses. I can now see him, 
with head thrown back, perhaps with closed eyes, as he en- 
tered into the spiritual interpretation of the lines we were pre- 
paring for the use of the church. His heart would take fire, 
and his strong voice was our leading soprano as we rolled forth 
the noble words of the poets of Methodism. Dr. Hemenway 
worked with a conscience. No labor was too great or pro- 
tracted when needed to place the text of a disputed line in 



IN ME MORI A M. 123 

proper form. He bad a genius for painstaking investigation, 
and, like all the rest of the world's busy men, he was called 
upon to do the world's extra work. He did not appear at his 
best when on parade, but in the uneventful corners of vital 
efficiency he made the success of the church's armies possible. 
When God promoted him to his reward, the world lost a really 
great man. I held him in highest estimate and loving regard. 
I would have freely trusted him in the highest place within 
the gift of the church. He was a pastor, and has aided to 
shape hundreds of pastors, and he was equal to the office and 
work of our pastors of pastors. Dr. Hemenway was pure in heart, 
simple-minded, devout, ambitious only in the highest and best 
sense, and he had that highest type of genuine catholicity 
which prefers his own church for the sake of all the churches. 
I hallow his memory, for, in all best respects, it is as ointment 
poured forth. 

DR. BUCKLEY. 

The request to write a few words concerning the late Pro- 
fessor F. D. Hemenway, preferred to me by the compilers of 
this memorial, has respect doubtless to that intimate relation 
subsisting between us in the work of revising the Methodist 
Hymn-book; for, prior to that time, it had not been my for- 
tune to have more than a passing acquaintance with him. I 
consider it an abundant reward for the time and labor ex- 
pended upon that work, that it brought me into contact with 
so many earnest and devoted representatives of different sec- 
tions and spheres ot activity in the church. 

It soon became apparent that the design of the bishops to 
make the committee of fifteen truly representative, had been 
accomplished. The place filled by Professor Hemenway could 
not have been taken by any other. His death, or inability to 
serve, would have left the revisers without the counsel of a 
critic than whom none was more discriminating, painstaking, 
conscientious, or kindly. 

During the first few* weeks after the organization, to a 
stranger he might have seemed somewhat finical ; but this re- 
sulted from a transient reserve, which exhibited only his in- 
tense devotion to truth, even in details, without the bonhomie 



124 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



which on further acquaintance lit up his communications, as 
rays of sunlight bring out the colors in a somber landscape, 
and change its whole aspect. 

Many students exhaust their energy in sedentary habits 
and laborious application to monotonous work. Chronically 
languid, they are not able to display their knowledge attract- 
ively, or to hold attention while they present carefully formed 
opinions. It was not so with Professor Hemenway. He spoke 
upon recondite points with the vivacity of earnest conversa- 
tion; received contradiction meekly, defending his positions 
strongly ; and acknowledging an error, if found in one — which 
was rarely the case — with thanks. 

Understanding music, he considered every hymn, not only 
with respect to its sentiment, but its adaptation to Christian 
song in the family, the Sabbath-school, the prayer- meeting, 
and the worship of the great congregation. Yet he often re- 
marked that the Hymnal served an important purpose as a 
volume of devotional reading ; and that it should not be for- 
gotten that many an invalid would read these compositions, 
and they would be the delight of the aged and infirm, and 
the instruction and entertainment of many who are not able 
to sing. 

His taste was exquisite. We learned to look for the exhi- 
bition of the hidden beauties of a composition, if there were 
any, and for a prompt and convincing exposure of essential 
defects. Nor did he lose sight of the substance of truth. He 
was not one of those who would sacrifice for a beautiful figure 
a strong statement. If possible, he would unite them ; but I 
recall several occasions when he said : " The hymn is met- 
rically and musically almost perfect ; but it is too weak — it con- 
tains nothing nourishing." Professor Hemenway distin- 
guished between sentimentality and spirituality, and desired 
that, without the loss of true sentiment, ever helpful to spir- 
ituality, every hymn sung by the church might be a proper 
vehicle for devout aspiration, thankfulness, petition, or peni- 
tential confession. 

To speak of his reverent spirit will seem to those who 
knew him well superfluous ; but as the purpose of these words 
is not merely to remind his friends of him, but to enable 



IN MEMO RIA M. 



125 



others to know why they loved him, I will definitely state 
that in two years and a half close intercourse with him, by 
correspondence and in conversation, in hours of work and 
hours of ease, I never heard from him a word which would 
have been incompatible with an immediate transition to the 
most solemn act of devotion. Yet there was nothing somber; 
the "light of smiles" often played upon his features. His 
tenderness was not weakness, his strength not coarseness, his 
wit not lightness, nor his mirth levity. 

Upon questions of expediency he was not pertinacious; 
upon those of principle he was immovable, yet more solicit- 
ous to be convinced of truth than to prevail in controversy. 
In the report submitted to the bishops and published to the 
church, the discussion of new hymns was committed to Dr. 
Hemenway, and in its preparation his qualities as a thinker 
and writer appear at their best. 

On an important sub-committee he was associated with 
Professor Harrington and the writer, who alone survives, and 
writes these words with feelings in which a sense of the un- 
certainty of life blends with an encouraging conviction of the 
permanence of work done for Christ, and the value of a hope 
that personality is not destroyed when this " mortal shall 
have put on immortality." 

MISS BANCROFT. 

In the various relations of daily living, Dr. Hemenway 
was honored and loved by all. A sincere and faithful friend, 
a professor of careful and exact scholarship, a Christian of un- 
obtrusive yet fervent piety, the record that he left is plain and 
open — it can be read by all. 

Yet there is no personality that completely reveals itsel 
to another; "as Thebes of old, so has the soul her hundred 
gates;" and when one swings ajar, and we have glimpses 
within, yet they are but glimpses, and we can only wonder 
and conjecture as to what we do not see. Yet by combining the 
glances of insight of many friends of varying nature, we shall 
obtain a more complete conception of a rarely lovable person- 
ality — a personality that veiled itself in a degree by reticent 
dignity and quiet composure. 



126 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



I had the privilege of counting Dr. Hemenway among my 
friends for a number of years ; and yet I ever remember him 
by preference on the few occasions when I reached below the 
surface, and obtained a slight knowledge of the thoughts he 
was thinking, or the motives which impelled him. 

One day we were returning from church together, and 
were talking of the sermon, with its lesson of trust in Divine 
Providence — a trust that should stand firm, even if the out- 
ward conditions of life failed to bring home the conviction of 
a loving Father's care. 

" It is the eternal question," I said, " coming anew to every 
generation, fresh to every human soul, as though long centu- 
ries of tired, troubled men had not struggled to attain the cer- 
tain assurance — 'God is my Father; he has personal, loving 
care for me.' " 

" Yes," he answered ; " and what a blessed truth it is that 
so many seeking souls have found the answer ! It was meant 
to come home to every one; each man must face it for himself. 
God presents us difficulties in life so as to educate us in trust. 
It is a ceaselessly recurring question, because it is the vital one 
of life." 

"Yes, there is witness of this in all countries and at all 
times," I responded, and then quoted Whittier's poem on the 
German mystic, Tauler, of mediaeval times : 

" Tauler, the preacher, walked one autumn day, 
Without trie walls of Strasburg, by the Rhine, 
Pondering the solemn miracle of life ; 
And as he walked, he prayed even the same 
Old prayer, with which for half a score of years- 
Morning, noon, and evening— lip and heart 
Had groaned : •Have pity upon me, Lord ; 
Thou seest, while teaching others, I am blind.' " 

"O, that is one of my poems," he said. And taking up 
the lines where I left them, he quoted stanza after stanza, show- 
ing a wonderful exactness of verbal memory. "This is the 
heart of the poem," and he repeated in a slow and meas- 
ured way : 

" What hell may be, I know not ; this I know— 
I can not lose the presence of the Lord. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



127 



One arm, Humility, lakes hold upon 

His dear Humanity ; the other, Love, 

Clasps his Divinity. So where I go, 

He goes ; and better fire-walled hell with him 

Thau golden-gated paradise without." 

" And this, a most beautiful conclusion of the whole matter: 

' So darkness in the pathway of man's life 
Is but the shadow of God's providence, 
By the great Sun of Wisdom cast thereon ; 
And what is dark below is light in heaven.' *' 

As he spoke I felt with subtle sympathy, "That poem 
has had its message to you as it has to me — a comforting 
one — giving the assurance that to his own, God will reveal 
himself." 

Then there is another glimpse I cherish well in memory. 
I had asked Dr. Hemenway to come to our Wednesday even- 
ing service at the Woman's College, to give us some of the 
treasures of his rare knowledge of the hymns of the church. 
He accepted the invitation, and when he came, the entire even- 
ing was devoted to a song-service, made up of the hymns that 
had been written by women authors. Each hymn had its own 
explanation as to how, when, and where written ; then followed 
gentle words of encouragement to the young college girls, in- 
citing them to service for Christ's church, and, if possible, also 
to write words of praise and thanksgiving to be treasured in 
sacred song. They were only a few words, but listened to with 
closest attention. 

Afterward, as I considered the thoughtful tact in the 
choice of the hymns, and the wise, stimulating words of en- 
couragement that had been said, I obtained another glimpse 
into a nature quick to see and ready to respond to every oppor- 
tunity for working good. 

These facts may seem but slight testimonials when com- 
pared with the far wider tributes that many will give — trib- 
utes of words and deeds that were known and recognized as 
sources of pow r er in a wide range of influence — but such as I 
have I give; fragrant, blessed memories, that will be treasured 
by me, and shared by others, while life lasts. 



128 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



MISS WILIvARD. 

The life of Dr. Hemenway was set to music. His dome- 
like head, trim figure, quick, measured step, and voice remark- 
able for rhythm, were the insignia of a spirit full of cadences 
and melody. I used to think that in him a tone-master was 
spoiled to make a scholar. Had his physical vigor equaled his 
psychic sensibility, he would have wrought out in a long life 
something in music beyond the realm of Methodism. As it is, 
he takes rank, for our time, as the first hymnologist of the 
church, concerning which he often said it was "beloved by 
him beyond his chief joy." When he raised the tune for us in 
love-feast, prayer- or class-meeting — and I heard him do 
so hundreds of times — we all felt that the act was one of 
worship. 

Dr. Hemenway was of a rarely reticent nature, and per- 
sons of frank and enthusiastic make-up did not always feel 
sure that he approved of them; but it was only the surface 
recoil of unlike temperaments. Take my own case : Our 
homes were but a block or two apart for twenty years, yet, be- 
yond the kindly greeting of passers-by, we almost never met 
except in class-meeting, where for some time he was my leader, 
and beloved as almost no other has been since I became a 
daughter of the church. In my journals of those days, as in 
my sister Mary's, allusions to him are frequent, and always in 
appreciative terms. Take the following from mine by way of 
illustration : 

Autumn of 1869: Evening. Have just returned from class- 
meeting, where I went with Oliver as in the pleasant days of 
last spring. Professor Hemenway was as kind and candid as 
ever. The room was cozy, the lamp and table and pictures 
were just as usual. But the one with whom I used to go to 
class-meeting was far away. My brother prayed very sweetly 
and earnestly. Professor Hemenway uttered one sentence 
that particularly attracted my attention. He said : " We have 
strength only because we are joined to him who is strong." 

In appearance and conduct, in character and achievement, 
this unique and noble man gave to all who knew him a sense 
of symmetry hardly paralleled in my acquaintance. He was 



IN ME MORI AM. 



129 



one whose presence warmed the spirit. The ray was not of 
sunshine, but of purest starlight, and I always felt it was a 
beam so true and kindly that it was good to follow, even as 
that at Bethlehem, which led always straight to Christ. 

He was a man to be confided in. When three of my best 
beloved — father, sister, and brother — passed away, Dr. Hem- 
enway's presence, his voice, his participation in the last serv- 
ices, brought solace to the hearts that sorrowed, though we 
saw him only in the pulpit and at the grave. Tuneful and 
sweet, that remarkable voice has memorably fallen on my ear 
in tender cadences as Dr. Hemenway walked up the church 
aisle, leading the funeral procession, and uttering the words, "I 
am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live." There was the stead- 
iness of absolute conviction in those tender tones. 

He was a man to trust — a man to seek in time of trouble. 
He was a royal counselor and a choice critic. When I started 
out to speak without manuscript or notes, I asked him to let 
me rehearse before him, and, at his suggestion, we went up 
to University Hall, where, in Professor Cumnock's recitation- 
room (in which that generous friend and brother had trained 
me many a time), Dr. Hemenway seated himself, paper and 
pencil in hand, carefully noting his points of commendation 
and of criticism for an hour or more. Meanwhile I pictured 
him to myself as a large audience, and tried to speak precisely 
as I would have done had he needed to be saved from the 
errors of his ways, or aroused to the exigencies of the situa- 
tion and enlisted as a soldier in "every body's war." Noth- 
ing could exceed his gentle faithfulness in telling me the im- 
pressions made upon his trained and well-poised mind, from 
which statements I have tried to profit. When I had heard 
all that he had to say, we went our several ways, and I had 
few other opportunities for conversation with him. 

But there are hymns that I shall never sing without per- 
ceiving him before me with his lofty brow and spiritual coun- 
tenance, and chief among them is his favorite : 

" Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, 
Lead thou me on." 



130 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



DR. CROOK. 

I write not as a pupil, but as a learner and admirer. I 
met Dr. Hemenway at Minneapolis, at a theological confer- 
ence. He was its very able conductor. There, as often else- 
where, there seemed to me an exactness and precision, bear- 
ing the appearance of coldness and severity; but there was 
withal an affability and manliness very admirable. In the 
progress of the discussions he occasionally gave clear-cut 
statements, which I have carried and found entering into 
my ministry. Among others he said in substance: "I accept 
the Bible because I find Christ in it and indorsing it. I do 
not accept any thing primarily because I find it in the Bible." 
I may not represent him precisely, but he made it clear and 
precise. He gave one evening to the then new hymnal, to 
the compiling of which he had devoted possibly more rea 
hard work than any one of the committee. It was a great 
feast to hear his rich comments and look at many of the 
hymns through the light of his intelligent enthusiasm. He 
afterward said to me, at our place of entertainment, that 
Lytle's hymn, " Abide with me," was the finest composition in 
English hymnology. I never behold the hymn without see- 
ing his clear-cut, pensive features, and hearing the tones of 
" a voice that is still." 

MR. CRANDON. 

For several years Dr. Hemenway was actively associated 
with me in Sunday-school work. As a Bible-class instructor, 
and as the leader of our teachers' meetings, I never knew 
his peer. His exposition of Scripture was clear, forcible, 
and exhaustive. His diction was elegant, and his method 
of discussion secured the undivided attention of his audience. 
He never seemed to utter a superfluous word, yet at the close 
of any of his exercises, every person who had listened to him 
felt that nothing which was worth the saying had been left 
unsaid. 

His resources seemed to be almost illimitable. Our teach- 
ers' meetings occurred on Saturday evenings. As a matter of 
course it often happened that the Doctor taught a Bible-class 



IN MEMOR I AM. 



131 



on Sunday the lesson which he had expounded at the teachers' 
meeting the evening before. The two audiences would he 
composed in part of the same persons. I never knew him to 
pursue the same method of exposition, or to use the same il- 
lustrations, or to repeat to any considerable extent, in his 
Sunday teaching, what he had said to the Saturday evening 
class. None the less, however, would he seem in each exer- 
cise to cover the entire scope of the text. Aside from his mar- 
velous powers of instruction, he was in many other ways most 
helpful in all our Sunday-school work. He was particular, 
even in minute details, to observe all the general regulations 
of school, and this conformity on his part resulted in a similar 
conformity on the part of those who would otherwise have 
been somewhat refractory. 

To Dr. Hem en way I am personally greatly indebted. I 
came to regard him as the ideal Christian. Generous, sympa- 
thetic, scholarly, devout — it would be difficult to suggest any 
desirable characteristic which he did not possess. 

To have known him was a benediction. To be like him 
would be to be worthy of the profound esteem of good men. 
I cherish his memory as a most precious inheritance, and I 
recognize in his life and character an ideal exemplification of 
tile attainments which, under Divine guidance, are possible to 
humanity. 

The truest and best memorial of such a man as 
Dr. Hemenway is to be found in the characters and 
minds of those whom he has influenced for good. 
Two material monuments, however, should be men- 
tioned. When the South Evanston church replaced 
its building, destroyed by fire, with a more beautiful 
structure, it was decided to call the new house the 
Hemenway Methodist Episcopal Church. The grace- 
ful edifice stands as a fair and fitting memorial to this 
pastor of pastors. It was built under the leadership 
of the Rev. Dr. T. P. Marsh, now president of Mount 
Union College. 



132 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



As the Institute grew in numbers, a new hall be- 
came a necessity, and President Ridgaway, in plan- 
ning for it, proposed that it should be a memorial 
hall, to commemorate the noble men and women who 
had been connected with the seminary, and especially 
the three deceased professors 1 — Drs. Dempster, Ban- 
nister, and Hemenway. In the exquisite chapel, the 
triple south-window has been especially dedicated to 
their memory. The alumni of the school gave the 
portion inscribed to Dr. Dempster, and the First 
Church of Evanston gave two thousand dollars on 
condition that the side windows should bear the 
names of Drs. Bannister and Hemenway. The plan 
of the design for this " teaching window" was made 
by Professor Charles W. Bennett. The dove — sym- 
bol of the Holy Spirit, who inspires all true Christian 
teaching — is at the top. The next panels contain 
three emblems of Christ, the Revealer of Christian 
truth. Suitable symbols of the different departments 
of theological instruction in which each professor was 
engaged, form the three parts of the next section. 
A figure of St. Paul, bearing the Sword of the Spirit, 
is the central figure in the window. The artistic 
drawing and coloring, and the richness of the glass, 
render these windows an object of interest to many 
visitors, and daily emphasize to the students the 
beauty of that holiness exemplified by the noble men 
whose memory is thus fitly honored. 

The study of such a life as Dr. Hemenway's 
strengthens the belief that the highest character is 
really indescribable. Its quiet force is subtle and in- 
definable, yet so powerful and so unspeakably valu- 



IN MEMORIAM. 



133 



able that even an imperfect biography will doubtless 
deepen and extend its holy influence. The history 
of the great religious teachers of the world shows that 
personal influence, exerted first upon a comparatively 
small company, and then extended through them to 
others, has been the saving leaven of the world. 
Such lives prove life worth living. They give a 
silent but severe rebuke to sordidness and selfish am- 
bition. They do much to convince men that there is 
a blessed immortality. To the Christian they make 
heaven seem real and near. He whom we loved and 
who helped us so in the best things, is now with 
Christ, " whose he w^as and whom he served." He 
who so prized and taught us to value the songs of 
Zion, now joins in the eternal harmonies of the song 
of Moses and the Lamb. 

" O sweet and blessed country, 

The home of God's elect ! 
sweet and blessed country, 

That eager hearts expect! 
Jesus, in mercy bring us 

To that dear land of rest — 
Who art, with God the Father, 

And Spirit, ever blest." 



udies ii) Hyn)i)oIo6y 



EDITED BY 



REV. CHARLES M. STUART. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



DR. HE MEN WAY believed the Hymnal to be the 
third in the trinity of books which ought to consti- 
tute the basis of every Methodist pastor's library. The 
other two were, of course, the Bible and the Discipline. 
To stimulate an interest in, and further a discriminating 
appreciation of, the best in hymnody, he gave occasional 
lectures on the subject; which lectures he was preparing 
to issue in book-form at the time of his death. It is inter- 
esting to note, as illustrating the method and orderliness 
characteristic of all his work, that he left a memorandum 
naming the book, enumerating the chapters, and outlining 
the contents of the preface. 

The book was to be called " Our Hymns, and Their 
Authors," and to consist of the following twelve chapters: 

I. Hymns and Lyric Poetry in General. 
II. Hymns of the Ancient Church. 

III. Earlier Mediaeval Hymns. 

IV. Later Mediaeval Hymns. 

V. Hymns from German and French Authors. 
VI. Earlier English Hymns. 
VII. Watts and the Wesleys. 
VIII. Other Hymn-writers of the Eighteenth Century. 
IX. Later English Hymns. 

X. American Hymns. 
XI. Modern Catholic and Unitarian Hymns. 
XII. Woman in Hymnody. 

The manuscript was complete to the end of the seventh 
chapter, and was in perfect order. The only change which 

10 137 



138 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



the editor has taken the liberty of making is to divide the 
seventh chapter according to the very obvious lines laid 
down in the title. 

The design of the work included only hymns in com- 
mon use " in the congregations and homes of America," 
and " to say only so much as was necessary to identify and 
individualize the author and to introduce the hymns." 
Where anything special was known concerning the origin 
or history of a hymn, it would be mentioned. The book 
should be popular in style, but special pains would be taken 
to insure accuracy of statement. In this latter respect the 
author thought the work would ' ' contrast favorably with 
anything of its general character in our language." 

The work speaks for itself. It is only to be regretted 
that a work so useful, so well planned, and so thoroughly, 
intelligently, and conscientiously begun, could not have 
been completed. One does not think of the lamented 
author without associating with him a favorite hymn. 
That he had many favorites, the varying testimony of 
friends implies; and that testimony is at once an evidence 
of his discriminating taste, catholicity, and ample knowl- 
edge — it shows that he always loved the best. 

His students and parishioners remember the singular 
felicity and aptness with which he used hymns in public 
discourse, and the rarely beautiful and impressive elocu- 
tion with which they were delivered. 

The General Conference of 1876 ordered a revision of 
the Hymnal, and authorized the appointment of a com- 
mittee of fifteen to undertake the work. Among the num- 
ber selected was Dr. Hemenway, and his name appears 
first in the list of five who constituted the Western section. 
Of the quality and extent of his work on the revision, the 
Revs. Dr. Edwards and Dr. Buckley, also members of the 
committee, write elsewhere. Tiie elaborate report of the 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



139 



committee to the bishops, a pamphlet of seventy-five pages, 
was the joint work of the Rev. Dr. Buckley and Dr. Hem- 
enway, the latter writing that part of it embraced in pp. 
23-75. In this, under the discussion of " New Hymns," he 
adds historical notes of great interest and value. In nothing, 
perhaps, was this delightful accomplishment of Dr. Hemen- 
* way's used to so large and fruitful advantage as in impress- 
ing upon prospective pastors the dignity of hymn-singing 
as an element of worship. To him music was divine, not 
diversion ; and as divine, to be treated as all divine things 
are treated, with intelligent reverence and devout consid- 
eration. 

One wish was dear to him. It was that a knowledge of 
hymns and hymn-writers might be popularized. Not for 
the sake of its pleasing and curious information, but that 
the psalmody of the church might be "in the spirit and 
with the understanding," and that the song service might 
accomplish something more of its mission among the people 
as a kind of spiritual dynamics. It would delight him, 
even where he is now, to know that his work in this direc- 
tion was being used to that end. We venture to suggest 
the use of these lectures for an occasional Sunday or week- 
day service. It would not fail to interest, instruct, and in- 
spire. With Augustine, many have testified, and many will 
yet testify : ' ' The hymns and songs of thy church moved 
my soul intensely. Thy truth was distilled by them into 
my heart. The flame of piety was kindled, and my tears 
flowed for joy." 



4 



i 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY IN GENERAL. 

AS we turn our attention to lyric poetry in general, 
the first thing which impresses us is its antiquity. 
The oldest human literature has come to us in this 
form. The most ancient books of the Hindoos, and, 
as many think, the most ancient of all human books, 
are the famous Vedic hymns, which, by the most 
moderate calculation, are nearly three thousand years 
old. The entire number of these is 1,028 ; and as 
early as 600 B. C. their verses, words, and syllables 
had been carefully enumerated. The oldest of the 
Chinese sacred books is the third of the ante-Con- 
fucian classics — called by them the " Book of Odes " — 
fragments of which are seen scattered over tea-chests 
and other articles of Chinese manufacture. As to the 
relative antiquity of the Vedas in Hindoo literature, 
and the Book of Odes in Chinese literature, there is 
no difference of opinion; but it is impossible to de- 
termine with certainty, or even a high degree of 
probability, the absolute age of either. The general 
estimate of those most competent to form an opinion 
on the subject is, that both may date from 1000 to 
1200 years B. C. ; thus, in the matter of age, ranking 
with the Davidic Psalms. 

141 



142 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



The oldest fragment in our Bible, and probably 
the oldest bit of poetry — and, indeed, of literature of 
any sort — in the world, is the song of Larnech, which 
is recorded in the fourth chapter of Genesis: 

" Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; 
Wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech ; 
For a man have I slain for smiting me, 
And a young man for wounding me. 
Surely seven-fold shall Cain be avenged, 
But Lamech seventy and seven." — Gen. iv, 23, 24. 

Herder, with whom Delitzsch substantially agrees, 
calls this "a song of the sword." It articulates that 
spirit of pride and atheistic self-confidence which cul- 
minated in the rebellion and catastrophe of Babel. 
Lamech virtually says, and with so much of passion 
that his utterance is crystallized into poetry : " I will 
protect and avenge myself with the weapons which 
my son, Tubal-Cain, can forge. I will avenge my- 
self more terribly than God threatened to avenge 
Cain. 7 ' 

"Surely seven-fold shall Cain be avenged, 
But Lamech seventy and seven." 

It is interesting to find, in this one specimen of ante- 
diluvian literature which has come down to us, all the 
peculiar characteristics of Oriental, and particularly of 
Hebrew poetry — rhythm, assonance, parallelism, and 
poetic diction. 

Coming to Christian lyric poetry, we are at once 
struck with its vast extent and incomparable wealth. 
It is estimated that in the German language alone 
there are 80,000 Christian hymns, (1) and in the English 
40,000. Even as early as 1751, says Kurtz in his 



HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY. 



143 



Church History, J. Jacob V. Moser collected a list 
of 50,000 printed hymns in the German language. 

Not only is the gross amount so considerable, its 
diffusion is still more to be noted. Next to the Chris- 
tian sacred books, nothing in literature has been so mul- 
tiplied as copies of Christian hymns. The multiplica- 
tion of certain choice and popular books — such, for 
instance, as the " Imitation," the " Pilgrim's Progress," 
and the " Thousand and One Nights," in many lan- 
guages, and in every variety of form, cheap and costly, 
plain and elaborate — is something wonderful; for the 
highest proof which life can give of its own existence 
and fullness is its continuous creative energy; and yet 
all this falls immeasurably short of the truth touch- 
ing the choicest hymns. Copies of some of these may 
be counted literally by the million. They rival the 
Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments in their 
hold on human memories. There are not a few into 
whose memories verses of hymns came earlier than 
verses of Scripture, and they will be more likely to 
speak them with their dying breath. 

A hymn is the most subtle and spiritual thing 
which a man can create. It must be in fact, if not 
in form, a transcript of his highest and holiest expe- 
riences; for the distinguishing characteristic of lyric 
poetry is the stamp it bears of the personal conscious- 
ness. The most perfect expressions of the Christian 
creed and life are found in the hymns of the church. 
As influences for good they are at once subtle and 
powerful, swaying our natures as nothing else can. 
"What care I," says Falstaff, "for the bulk and big 
assemblage of a man? Give me the spirit, Master 



144 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Shallow, give me the spirit." Now, the spirit of hu- 
manity, and of the Christian church, in a sense infi- 
nitely higher than Shakspeare's hero could under- 
stand, are found in lyric poetry as nowhere else. 
The subtle essence, the delicate hues, the delicious 
fragrance, and ethereal beauty of spiritual character, 
are here most variously and beautifully exhibited. 

Bishop Wordsworth, in the scmewhat elaborate 
essay on Christian hymns prefixed to his " Holy 
Year," complains that w T hile the ancient hymns are 
distinguished by self-forgetfulness, the modern are 
characterized by self-consciousness. " In ancient 
hymns man is always elevated to God ; in modern, God 
is too often depressed to man. In these last, the in- 
dividual often detaches and isolates himself from the 
body of the faithful, and in a spirit of sentimental 
selfishness obtrudes his own feelings concerning him- 
self; and claiming, as it were, a monopoly of spiritual 
privileges for himself, makes it to be the theme of 
praise to God the Father of all that he has had mercy 
on him, and to Christ fhe Savior of the world that he 
has died for him; and he comes forward to speak to 
God concerning his own spiritual state, contrasted 
with that of others, in a tone of self-congratulation 
which sometimes seems to be not far removed from 
that of the Pharisee in the Gospel; and he does this 
in public worship, in the house of God, and makes his 
own individuality to be, as it were, the axis around 
which all the congregation, and even the heavenly 
sphere itself, is caused to revolve." As illustrative 
examples he cites the following : " When I can read 
my title clear," " When I survey the wondrous cross," 



HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY. 



145 



"I hold the sacred book of God," "My God, the 
spring of all my joys and he also quotes, as illus- 
trating not only this egotistical character, but also a 
certain reprehensible self-assurance, and a lamiliar 
and even amatory style of address — 

" Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly," 

which he says he has heard "given out to be sung by 
every member of a large, mixed congregation, in a 
dissolute part of a populous and irreligious city." 

Seldom were words ever written which betray a 
more absolute want of comprehension of the whole 
subject of lyric poetry. Its one grand, distinguishing 
characteristic is the fact that we see. here, as nowhere 
else, the glory of individual life and experience. It 
must be confessed that there are hymns which illus- 
trate some of the objectionable tendencies pointed out 
by the distinguished prelate ; but certainly the hymns 
he specifies show very clearly how a hymn can be 
a genuine lyric, reflecting most clearly and vividly 
the individual consciousness, and yet be thoroughly 
free from obtrusive egotism. The most perfect and 
most universally intelligible model of religious poetry 
holds such language as the following: "The Lord is 
my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie 
down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the 
still waters." Wiser was Luther, who used to thank 
God for these same little words — these words of per- 
sonal confession and appropriation. It is compara- 
tively unimportant whether the hymn stand in the 
singular or plural number; the one thing essential is 



146 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



that it be a crystallization of personal thought and ex- 
perience. The great hymns of the church — the hymns 
of the ages — hymns which stand pre-eminent as ex- 
pressions of the life of God in the soul of man — are 
almost uniformly such as come most directly out of 
the experience of the writer. Charles Wesley's hymns 
are eminently autobiographic. That grand hymn 
which has so long held the place of honor in both 
English and American Methodist hymn-books — "O 
for a thousand tongues to sing" — was written on the 
first anniversary of Mr. Wesley's spiritual birth. 
Equally evident is it that his holiest aspirations and 
his most blissful experiences are given voice in such 
hymns as: a O love divine, how sweet thou art;" 
"Love divine, all loves excelling;" " Vain, delusive 
world, adieu." Two of his hymns, very familiar to 
Methodists, were addressed to his wife on her birthday : 

" Come away to the skies, my beloved, arise, 
And rejoice in the day thou wast born." 

" Come, let us ascend, my companion and friend, 
To a taste of the banquet above." ( 2) 

The connection of the hymn "God moves in a 
mysterious way" with Cowper's personal history is 
well known. (3) John Newton's most characteristic, 
though by no means most famous or most beautiful, 
hymn is a mere transcript of his spiritual autobiog- 
raphy : " I saw one hanging on the tree." (4) The 
hymn of Anne Steele, which is most universally 
known and most frequently used, " Father, whatever 
of earthly bliss," is beyond question the simple out- 
breathing of her personal trust and submission be- 



HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY. 



147 



neath the heavy burdens of sorrow which she, more 
than others, was called to bear. (5) Charlotte Elliott's 
" Just as I am " is the expression of the experience 
into which she herself had come, after long and pain- 
ful preparation. John Keble's most frequently used 
hymn, " Sun of my soul," exhibits the very charac- 
teristic which is so offensive to Bishop Wordsworth. (6) 
And, as we look through the whole range of hymnol- 
ogy, and consider the hymns which all agree to un- 
derstand, to love, and to use, we shall find the great 
majority of them to be couched in the language of 
personal confession and. appropriation, such as shows 
them to be the outpouring of the most sacred and 
most spiritual experiences. 

As a means of Christian influence hymns are most 
serviceable, and sometimes well-nigh irresistible. The 
pure waters of holy song will sometimes make their 
way into places dark and deathful, which no other in- 
fluence from heaven can reach. A few years since a 
little party of American travelers, happening to be in 
Montreal, took occasion to visit the celebrated Grey 
Nunnery, one of the wealthiest religious houses on 
this continent. As we were being conducted through 
the establishment, we came to the school-room con- 
taining the orphan children, kept there as one branch 
of their charities. For our entertainment, the chil- 
dren were set to singing. What was our surprise and 
delight to hear them sing our common Protestant 
Sunday-school hymns, such as "I have a Father in 
the Promised Land," u I want to be an angel," 
" There is a happy land !" What other form of 
evangelical influence could have made its way so 



148 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



successfully through the bolts and bars of that 
convent ? 

There is a familiar incident connected with one of 
Phebe Cary's hymns which may w T ell be taken as 
representative of a very large class of similar in- 
stances showing the power of sacred song. A few 
years since two men, Americans — one middle-aged, 
the other a young man — met in a gambling-house in 
Canton, China. They had been engaged in play to- 
gether during the evening, and the young man had 
lost heavily. While the older one was shuffling the 
cards for a new deal, his companion leaned back in his 
chair, and began mechanically to sing a fragment of 
Miss Cary's exquisite hymn, "One sweetly solemn 
thought/' As these words, so tender and so beautiful, 
fell on the ear of the man hardened in sin, dead mem- 
ories in his heart came to life again. He sprang up 
excitedly, exclaiming : " Where did you learn that 
hymn ? I can 't stay here !" And, in spite of the 
taunts of his companion, he hurried him away, and 
confessed to him the story of his long wanderings 
from a happy Christian home. At the same time he 
expressed his determination to lead a better life, and 
urged his companion in sin to join him. The res- 
olution was kept, the man w T as reclaimed, and the 
story of his recovery came back to bless Miss Cary 
before she died. This hymn, God's invisible angel, 
had gone with the man, through all those weary 
years of sin, and finally led him back to purity and 
salvation. 

An oft-repeated incident connected with one of 
the best hymns of Charles Wesley well illustrates the 



HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY. 



149 



power of this means of influence. The only daughter 
of a wealthy and worldly nobleman was awakened 
and converted at a Methodist meeting in London. 
This was to her father an occasion of bitter grief and 
disappointment, and he at once set about winning her 
back to her former associations. Having vainly tried 
other means to draw her away from her newly found 
faith, he at last formed a plan the object of which 
was to bring to bear upon her the combined influence 
of her former most intimate associates and friends, 
and that, too, under such conditions that she would 
be unable to resist it. He arranged to invite to his 
own home a number of her gay and worldly asso- 
ciates, hoping, by their influence, to entangle her 
again in the meshes of fashionable dissipation. The 
company assembled, and all, in high spirits, entered 
upon the pleasures of the evening. According to the 
plan preconcerted, several of the party took their 
turn in singing a song, of course selecting such as 
comported with the gayety and worldliness of the 
occasion. Then the young lady herself, being an ac- 
complished musician, was called upon. She distinctly 
saw that the critical hour had come. Pale, but com- 
posed, she took her seat at the piano, and, after run- 
ning her fingers over the keys, sang these verses of 
Charles Wesley's incomparable hymn : 

" No room for mirth or trifling here, 
For worldly hope or worldly fear, 

If life so soon is gone ; 
If now the Judge is at the door, 
And all mankind must stand before 
. The inexorable throne. 



150 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



No matter which my thoughts employ, 
A moment's misery or joy ; 

But O, when both shall end, 
Where shall I find my destined place? 
Shall I my everlasting days 

With fiends or angels spend? 

Nothing is worth a thought beneath 
But how I may escape the death 

That never, never dies ! 
How make mine own election sure, 
And, when I fail on earth, secure 

A mansion in the skies. 

Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray ; 

Be thou my guide, be thou my way 

To glorious happiness. 
Ah! write the pardon on my heart; 
And whensoe'er I hence depart, 

Let me depart in peace. 

She had conquered. Truths so solemn and 
weighty, borne on soul-moving music, and illustrated 
by the humility and heroism of her who now sat in 
her own father's house, in the midst of this joyous 
company, alone with God, could not be resisted. 
The father wept aloud, and afterward himself became 
a trophy of his daughter's courage and fidelity. 

As an instrument of expression song is equally 
serviceable. It gathers up into itself our sweetest, 
saddest, most heroic, and most spiritual experiences. 
When the soul comes to its divinest heights, song is 
sure to be there. If it is not already in waiting, the 
inspired soul at once creates it, as did Mary the Mag- 
nificat and Simeon the Nunc Dimittis. Rarely was 
there ever witnessed a scene of more thrilling inter- 
est than that of the reunion of the Old and New 



HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY. 151 



School divisions of the Presbyterian Church, which 
took place in Pittsburg in May, 1869. . On the day 
appointed, the two bodies met in their respective 
places, and then, having formed in the street in par- 
allel columns, joined ranks, one of each assembly 
arm in arm with one of the other, and so marched to 
the place where the services were to be held. As 
the head of the column entered the church, already 
crowded, save the seats reserved for the delegates, the 
audience struck up the hymn, " Blow ye the trumpet, 
blow;" and, when all were in their places, "All hail 
the power of Jesus' name !" After the reading of 
the Scriptures came the hymn of Watts, " Blest are 
the sons of peace." The interest of the occasion cul- 
minated when Dr. Fowler, the moderator of the New 
School Assembly, at the close of his remarks, turned 
to Dr. Jacobus, the moderator of the Old School As- 
sembly, and said : " My dear brother Moderator, may 
we not, before I take my seat, perform a single act 
symbolical of the union which has taken place be- 
tween the two branches of the church ? Let us 
clasp hands !" This challenge was immediately re- 
sponded to, when all joined in singing the grand old 
doxology of Bishop Ken, " Praise God, from whom 
all blessings flow !" And at the conclusion of Dr. 
Jacobus's remarks, amid flowing tears and with swell- 
ing hearts, the thousands present joined in singing 
the precious hymn, written just about a century be- 
fore, by that grand and tuneful Baptist minister, John 
Fawcett, himself a convert of George Whitefield, 
" Blest be the tie that binds." Little did those 
happy Presbyterians think or care that two of the 



152 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



hymns for this hour of their supreme gladness were 
furnished by Methodists, one by a Congregational- 
ism one by an Episcopalian bishop, and one by a 
Baptist. 

And so do hymns bear interesting and conclusive 
testimony to the catholicity of Christianity and the 
essential unity of the church. In them we see what 
is essential and permanent as contrasted with that 
which is merely formal and ephemeral. They do, in- 
deed, reflect the surface of the Christian conscious- 
ness, whose phenomena are continually changing ; but 
the hymns which have a life so permanent as to be 
accounted the "hymns of the ages " come out of the 
very depths of that consciousness. For the most 
part, such hymns do not so much illustrate the variety 
and separations of the church as its oneness. Chris- 
tianity is simply the one life of Jesus Christ, and, 
however multitudinous may be the channels through 
which it flows, it is everywhere and always one. 
And so our hymnody is a visible evangelical alliance, 
where Catholic and Protestant, Oriental and Occi- 
dental, the ancient and the modern, Calvinist and 
Arminian, Unitarian and Evangelical, blend indis- 
tinguishable in the one grand and universal song. 
What Protestant hymnal would be felt to be com- 
plete without the hymns of such eminent Catholics 
as Gregory, Bernard, King Robert of France, Faber, 
Newman, and Bridges? What Arminian would think 
of dispensing with the hymns of such distinguished, 
and some of them high and extreme, Calvinists as 
Watts, Doddridge, Toplady, Newton, Baxter, Bonar, 
and multitudes of others? What Calvinist would 



HYMNS AND LYRIC POETRY. 153 



think of dispensing with the hymns of the Wesleys, 
Perronet, Olivers, Heber, Keble, and Lyte ? Who 
would think the hymn-books intended for the use of 
orthodox and evangelical churches to be quite per- 
fect if all the hymns of Barbauld, Bowring, Adams, 
Holmes, Longfellow, and Sears were left out? What 
Churchman, during the present century, has been sat- 
isfied to leave out of his hymnal all hymns from such 
Dissenters as Doddridge, Watts, and Wesley? On 
these heights of sacred song the atmosphere is so rare 
and so pure that, for the most part, the voices of 
earthly strife and discord sink away into silence, and 
only the harmonies which are borne down to us from 
the upper sanctuary are distinctly heard. 

One of the best illustrations of this is furnished 
in the history of a hymn which all Protestant Chris- 
tians agree to place in the very front rank of hymns : 
" Rock of Ages, cleft for me." Its author, Mr. Top- 
lady, was one of the best and bitterest of Mr. Wes- 
ley's opponents, the points of difference between them 
being mainly such as were involved in the Calvinistic 
controversy. Especially was he disgusted at the Wes- 
leyan doctrine of Christian perfection as being, in his 
view, inconsistent with the doctrines of grace ; and 
so he wrote this hymn, which expresses the utter 
nothingness of human merit, and represents the soul 
as finding its only refuge in the merit of Christ, giv- 
ing to it this controversial title : " A living and dying 
prayer for the holiest believer in the world." The 
hymn was at once caught up by Christian people, 
and by none more eagerly than by the Methodists, 

against whom it was written, and who to-day sing it 

11 



154 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



as heartily as they do the hymns of Charles Wesley 
himself. Thus did Mr. Toplady, the hymn- writer, 
demonstrate his oneness with the very people against 
whom Mr. Toplady, the polemic, had leveled his 
keenest shafts. 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 155 



CHAPTER II. 

HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 

IN our attempts to illustrate this subject of hymnol- 
ogy we must labor under one embarrassment. 
Many of the most notable hymns were written in 
other languages than ours, and a lyric poem never 
bears translation well. (1) That adjustment of sound 
to sense, of rhyme and meter to thought, which 
makes a poem perfect in one language, if once it be 
disturbed for purposes of translation, can never be 
perfectly restored. When these beautiful crystals of 
thought and feeling are broken, their high and pe- 
culiar value is gone. At the best we can only use the 
fragments, in each of which may be seen some gleam 
of the original glory, to help us to conceive what that 
glory really was. Some of the best and most eminent 
hymns, whose names are as household words, have 
never been known, and can never be known by us 
in their true and proper character. We do not see 
them face to face ; and that image of them which is 
reflected in the best translation is more or less dis- 
torted and imperfect. They have lost in great meas- 
ure their distinctive poetic character — the music of 
numbers, the nice adjustment of epithets, the delicate 
hues of spiritual beauty, and many of those gleams 
of personal life and experience which constitute the 
peculiar charm of lyric poetry. 



156 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



The oldest hymn of the Christian Church outside 
of the Bible is that known as the "Trisagion," or, 
more commonly, by its Latin name, " Tersanctus," 
" Thrice holy." It is the earliest of the many echoes 
which the song of the seraphim, as heard by Isaiah, 
has awakened in Christian literature. Neither its 
precise date nor author, nor the circumstances of its 
origin, can now be ascertained. (2) All we are quite 
certain of is, that it goes back to the second century 
of Christian history — to that age which touched upon 
the work of the apostles themselves — and that it has 
from the first held its place in the holy of holies 
of Christian worship ; for it is found in all the 
anti-Nicene liturgies as well as in the principal ones 
of later times. With the exception of one or two 
brief doxologies, it contains the oldest uninspired 
words of Christian praise in any language. It runs 
through the Christian centuries like a thread of gold, 
joining in one the praises of devout hearts in every 
age and clime. Even in the words of translation in 
which we know it, its sitnplicity and beauty, its 
strength and majesty, are most evident : 

"It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we 
should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O 
Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God. Therefore, 
with angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven, 
we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising 
thee and saying: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, heaven 
and earth are full of thy glory! Glory be to thee, Lord, 
most high !" 

What a perfect religion is here ! How catholic, 
how universal ! It contains a glorious vision of the 
"all-temple" state. It shows the whole family, in 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 157 



earth and heaven, united in one song. Though it 
had its birth in a time of fiercest persecution — when 
any public act of Christian worship might end in 
martyrdom, when the song of praise begun on earth 
might be finished, " after a brief agony," before the 
throne of God — yet it rises sublimely above these 
dark and dreadful conditions. The gloom, the strife, 
the scorn, and the bitter injustice of their earthly lot, 
their spiritual anguish and their mortal agony do not 
even cast a shadow upon it. As this song of the 
seraphim goes back to heaven from men, poor, de- 
spised, and hunted even to martyrdom, it gathers into 
itself a wonderful sweetness and power, such as must 
make even the angels lean silent on their harps to 
hear ! 

With this hymn should be mentioned another not 
unlike it in spirit and history. It also originated 
probably in the second century, though, if we give 
much place to internal evidence, we must assign to it 
an origin somewhat later than the Tersanctus. From 
the earliest times these have been associated together, 
both having held a place in the communion service. 
We refer to the " Gloria in Excelsis," C3) a longer 
hymn than the Tersanctus and more emotional ; of 
wider scope and more burning utterances, " with 
whose ringing accents of praise mingles the miserere 
of conscious sin." It begins among the angels, 
taking up the strains of angelic rapture which once 
it was permitted to mortal ears to hear, " Glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will to 
men but speedily does it come down into this mor- 
tal and sinful life, taking up with solemn iteration 



158 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



the one prayer of guilty humanity, "Have mercy 
upon us." We are told that the early martyrs 
were wont to sing this hymn on their way to their 
death ; and yet, like the blessed Christ, whose nature 
and offices are in it so distinctly reflected, it is equally 
suited to all who dwell in this mortal body: 

"Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will 
to men. We praisa thee, we bless thee, we glorify thee, we 
give thanks to thee for thy great glory, Lord God, heavenly 
King, God the Father Almighty ! Lord, the only begotten 
Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the 
Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy 
upon us ! Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have 
mercy upon us! Thou that takest away the sins of the w 7 orld, 
receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God 
the Father, have mercy upon us! For thou only art holy; 
thou only art the Lord; thou only, Christ, with the Holy 
Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father." 

There is still another hymn, which is, in many 
regards, more notable than either of tho'se already 
mentioned. It is at once a hymn and a creed ; or, 
rather, as Mrs. Charles beautifully says, " It is a 
creed taking wing and soaring heavenward ; it is 
Faith seized with a sudden joy as she counts her 
treasures, and laying them at the feet of Jesus in a 
song ; it is the incense of prayer rising so near the 
rainbow round about the throne as to catch its light 
and become radiant as well as fragrant — a cloud of 
incense illumined into a cloud of glory." We refer 
to the " Te Deum Laudamus," (4) perhaps the grandest 
anthem of Christian praise ever written. It is not 
necessary to give it in full in this place, for scarcely 
anything in Christian literature is more familiar; but 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 



159 



we will not forego the satisfaction of transcribing a 
few of its grand sentences — sentences which have 
been heard in every great cathedral in the world, and 
wakened the echoes of every clime beneath the sun : 

" We praise thee, God; we acknowledge thee to be the 
Lord. All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlast- 
ing. To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the 
powers therein. To thee cherubim and seraphim continually 
do cry, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth ! Heaven and 
earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. The glorious com- 
pany of the apostles praise thee. The goodly fellowship of 
the prophets praise thee. The noble army of martyrs praise 
thee. The holy church throughout all the world doth ac- 
knowledge thee. . . . Day by day we magnify thee ; and 
we worship thy name ever, world without end." 

These three great anonymous hymns of the early 
church never assumed a perfect metrical form, but 
only that of measured prose, in this regard resem- 
bling the songs and snatches or fragments of song 
which are found in the New Testament itself. But 
what is wanting in poetical structure is more than 
made up in dignity, simplicity, and universal intelli- 
gibleness. With little loss, they have been translated 
into many of the languages into which the Bible it- 
self has gone ; and everywhere they stand to express 
the catholicity of Christianity and the unity of be- 
lievers. They belong peculiarly ancT exclusively to 
no sect or section of the church, but equally to the 
entire church. Neither Churchman nor Romanist 
can claim exclusive proprietorship in them, but, like 
the Bible itself, of which they are so evidently the 
offspring, they belong to all who " profess and call 
themselves Christians," of every tongue and clime. 



160 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 

We may not leave these earliest Christian hymns 
without reflecting upon the grand and sacred mission 
they have fulfilled. They have lifted heavenward 
the worship of countless millions. They have gone 
through the world like sweet- voiced angels, leading 
our discordant natures into harmony. In the cathe- 
dral, the humble village church, the cell of the monk, 
the palace of the king, the tent of the nomad ; in the 
catacombs, by the martyr's stake ; beneath arctic 
skies and torrid suns; in Asia, Africa, Europe, Amer- 
ica, the islands of the sea ; wherever the angel hav- 
ing the everlasting gospel to preach has gone, there 
have this blessed trio gone too. And in the supreme 
hour of mortal life they have been uttered by the 
bedside of the dying, lifting the soul into heavenly 
rapture even from the depths of mortal agony. So 
is it that men are 

"Learning here, by faith and love, 
Songs of praise to sing above." 

The oldest uninspired Christian hymn which can 
with certainty be traced to its author was written by 
Clement of Alexandria, who died not later than 220, 
A. D. Of his personal history we know compara- 
tively little; but as to his intellectual and spiritual 
life we have better information. He represents the 
famous city of Alexandria, which, more than any 
other, was the meeting-place between the life of the 
East and the West. Here was originated the Hel- 
lenistic dialect of the Greek language, which has for 
its precious contents the Septuagint version of the 
Old Testament, the writings of Philo and Josephus, 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 



161 



and the books of the New Testament. One of his 
teachers came from Ionia, the birthplace of the 
grandest poem in all literature ; another from Ccele- 
Syria, the vigor and glory of whose civilization is 
to-day most eloquently attested by the wonderful 
ruins at Baalbec ; another still came from Assyria, a 
name suggestive of all that is venerable in antiquity 
and illustrious in achievement ; while yet another 
came from Italy, but originally from Egypt. He 
became familiar with Jewish lore at the school of 
Tiberias, and he learned Christianity from Pantsenus, 
who stood at the head of the Academy in Alexandria. 
When Pantsenus left this position to enter upon a 
mission to the heathen of India and the East, Clement 
became his successor, and he, in turn, was succeeded 
by his own disciple, Origen, the most eminent and 
learned of all the Christian fathers of the third cen- 
tury. It is probable that the persecution under Sep- 
timius Severus, A. D. 202, compelled Clement to flee 
from Alexandria, and we hear of him about ten years 
later visiting Jerusalem, and from thence to Antioch, 
commended to the Antiochans by the Bishop of Je- 
rusalem as "a virtuous and tried man, and one not 
altogether unknown to them." 

Three works from his hand have been preserved 
to us: "An Exhortation to the Heathen," "The In- 
structor," and "Miscellanies." The object of the 
first seems to have been to convert the heathen, and 
it draws a vivid and powerful contrast between the 
impurity, the grossness, and sordidness of heathenism 
and the pure and exalted character of Christianity. 
The second was intended for those already converted, 



162 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 

and consisted mainly of rules for the formation and 
development of Christian character and living a 
Christian life. The third was called "Stromata," or 
" Miscellanies/' and was a collection of speculative 
notes bearing upon true philosophy. One or two 
extracts from these works will serve to illustrate the 
tone of Clement's thought and the spirit of the times 
in which he lived. Speaking of marriage, he says : 
" What a union is that between two believers, having 
in common one hope, one desire, one order of life, 
one service of the Lord ! . . . They kneel, pray, 
and fast together ; mutually teach, exhort, and bear 
with each other; the harmony of psalms and hymns 
goes up between them, and each vies with the other 
in singing the praise of their God." Again he says-. 
" Prayer, if I may speak so boldly, is intercourse 
with God. Although we do but lisp; although we 
address God without opening the lips, in silence, we 
cry to him in the inward recesses of the heart; for 
when the whole direction of the inmost soul is to 
him, God always hears." He draws the following 
picture of a devout Christian : " He will pray in 
every place, but not openly to be seen of men. He 
prays in every situation — in his walks for recreation, 
in his intercourse with others, in silence, in reading, 
in all rational pursuits. And although he is only 
thinking on God in the little chamber of the soul, and 
calling upon his Father with silent aspirations, God is 
near him and with him while he is yet speaking." 

There is a special interest connected with Clem- 
ent's hymn as being the earliest versified Christian 
hymn,- and so the distinguished leader of a shining 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 163 



host. It has been very justly described as " a collec- 
tion of images interwoven like a stained window, of 
which the eye loses the design in the complication of 
colors, upon which may be traced, as in quaint old 
letters on a scroll, winding through all the mosaic of 
tints, Christ all in all." There are several metrical 
versions accessible to the English reader, but the 
strictly literal rendering of Mrs. Charles will give a 
more just idea of its substance, though none at all of 
its poetic structure and beauty : 

" Mouth of babes who can not speak, 
Wing of nestlings who can not fly, 
Sure guide of babes, 
Shepherd of royal sheep, 
Gather thine own artless children 
To praise in holiness, 
To sing in guilelessness, 
With blameless lips, 
Thee, O Christ! Guide of children. 



Lead, Shepherd 

Of reasoning sheep! 

Holy One, lead, 

King of speechless children! 

The footsteps of Christ 

Are the heavenly way ! 

Ever-flowing word, 

Infinite age, 

Perpetual light, 

Fountain of mercy, 

Worker of virtue, 

Holy sustenance 

Of those who praise God, Christ Jesus, — 
The heavenly milk 
Of the sweet breasts 
Of the bride of graces 
Pressed out of thy wisdom! 



1 64 STUDIES IN H YMNOLOG Y. 

These babes 

With tender lips nourished — 

By the dew of the Spirit replenished — 

Their artless praises, 

Their true hymns, 

Christ, our King! 

Sacred rewards 

Of the doctrine of life, 

We hymn together; 

We hymn in simplicity, 

The mighty child, 

The chorus of peace, 

The kindred of Christ, 

The race of the temperate ; 

We will praise together the God of peace." (, 5 ) 

The eminent Biblical scholar, Rev. E. H. Plump- 
tre, has made an excellent metrical version, which 
may be helpful in bringing us face to face with the 
original. We transcribe two stanzas: 

"Shepherd of sheep, that own 
Their Master on the throne, 
Stir up thy children meek 
With guileless lips to speak, 
In hymn and soul, thy praise. 
King of saints, Lord ! 
Mighty, all-conquering Word; 
Son of the highest God, 
Wielding his wisdom's rod ; 
Our stay when cares annoy, 
Giver of endless joy ; 
Of all ; our mortal race, — 
Savior of boundless grace, — 
Jesus, hear! 



Lead us, Shepherd true ! 
Thy mystic sheep, we sue. 
Lead us, O holy Lord, 
Who from thy sons dost ward, 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 



165 



With all-prevailing charm, 

Peril and curse and harm ; 

path where Christ hath trod ; 

way, that leads to God ; 

word, abiding aye; 

endless light on high, 

Mercy's fresh-springing flood, 

Worker of all things good ; 

glorious life of all 

That on their Master call, — 

Christ Jesus, hear." 

But that version of the hymn which is most dis- 
tinctly lyrical in its character, though it departs very 
widely from the archaic simplicity of the original, is 
the one commencing 

Shepherd of tender youth. 

It was made by the Rev. H. M. Dexter, D. D., 
editor of The Congregationalist newspaper, published 
in Boston. This version is now very widely used, 
and is met with in most of the leading hymnalsboth 
of America and Great Britain. It is of special in- 
terest and significance that this oldest of our versi- 
fied hymns is so full of Christ, and, at the same time, 
so clear in its recognition of his relation to children. 
May the singing of it by the churches in this latter 
day bring us into more perfect sympathy with that 
Savior who pronounced upon childhood the benedic- 
tion which carries in its bosom all blessed possibil- 
ities : " Of such is the kingdom of God !" 

But the most conspicuous figure in ancient hym- 
nody is that of Ambrose, the famous bishop of 
Milan and pastor of Monica, the mother of Augus- 
tine. He was a man of unusual breadth and energy 



166 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



of character, and it was given him to achieve a re- 
markable history. The son of a prominent civil offi- 
cer, he was himself governor of the province of 
Milan, and as such was present to keep the peace in 
a large popular assembly convened to consider the 
matter of electing a bishop, when, by the voice of a 
child, he was himself designated for the office. After 
what was doubtless a sincere but ineffectual attempt 
to resist the will of the people in this regard, he was 
baptized, distributed his property to the poor, and 
eight days after was inducted into the episcopal office. 
He performed the duties of this high office with zeal 
truly apostolic, asserting, as no man had ever done 
before him, the loving intolerance of Christianity as 
against heathen religions. Over more than one em- 
peror he exerted a strong, if not absolutely command- 
ing, influence. Theodosius the Great venerated him 
as father, and openly declared that he was the only 
bishop worthy of the title. When, in a fit of pas- 
sion, this same Theodosius inflicted terrible cruelties 
upon the rebellious Thessalonians, Ambrose refused 
to admit him to the altar until he had done public 
penance. 

A special interest attaches to Ambrose because of 
his connection with the personal history of the distin- 
guished Augustine, one of the greatest men of his 
time or of any time. For thirteen years had Monica 
carried on her heart the great burden of a wayward 
son, waiting upon God in faith and prayer, and min- 
istering to him with maternal patience and tenderness. 
The stubbornness and rebellion of the young man 
seemed to mock all her hopes, and she sought refuge 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 167 



and strength in the sympathy of the good Ambrose. 
With bitter weeping, she poured her solicitude and 
sorrow into his ear. " Wait," said the man of God, 
"wait patiently; the child of these tears can not per- 
ish." The event justified the prophecy; for before 
Monica's star went down the sun of Augustine rose. 

Of all the men of the ancient church, the impress 
of Ambrose upon her hymnody is deepest. Though 
the tradition which connects his name with the " Te 
Deum Laudamus" is not to be trusted, yet to him 
must be/ accorded the higher honor of having intro- 
duced the singing of psalms, and especially antiphonal 
and responsive singing, in the Western church. There 
are about a dozen hymns extant which the Benedic- 
tine editors ascribe to Ambrose, besides a very con- 
siderable number of the same general character which 
are designated Ambrosian. They are all remarkable 
for dignity and simplicity, both in style and struc- 
ture, and the permanence of their life and wide ex- 
tent of their influence would seem to indicate that a 
hymn " when unadorned is adorned the most." Born 
in the midst of theologic strife, these hymns have 
served not only as instruments of devotion, but as 
weapons against heresy, and for fifteen hundred years 
have been counted among the choice treasures of 
Christian literature. Among the best of these hymns 
of Ambrose, in their most approved English transla- 
tions, are : 

Now doth the sun ascend the sky, 
translated from the Latin original, which Daniel calls 
Ambrosian, by the Rev. Edward Caswall ; this 
hymn was chanted by the priesthood, in full choir, at 



168 



STUDIES IN HYMNOL OGY. 



the death-bed of William, the Conqueror, in A. D. 
1087. 

The morning kindles all the sky, - 

♦ 

translated by Mrs. Elizabeth Charles, the gifted author 
of the " Schonberg Cotta Family." Another version, 
by Rev. Dr. A. R. Thompson, begins : 

The morning purples all the sky. W 

Lord, most high, Eternal King. 
The Lord on high ascends. 
mighty joy to all our race. 
Jesu, Lord of light and grace. 
Ere the waning light decay. 
God of truth, Lord of Might. 
God of all, the strength and power. 
Now that the daylight fills the sky. 
, Trinity, most blessed light. 

Redeemer of the nations, come. <- 7) 
Come, Holy Ghost, who ever one. 
Creator of the stars of night. 
Above the starry spheres. 

It is difficult for us fully to appreciate the mission 
and influence of these ancient hymns. They served 
not only as channels of devotion, but as witnesses for 
the truth and as safeguards against error. The testi- 
mony which Augustine himself gives as to the influ- 
ence of the church-music on his heart, may well be 
taken as truthfully illustrative of the value of this 



HYMNS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH. 169 

feature of public religious service. " The hymns and 
songs of thy church moved my soul intensely. Thy 
truth was distilled by them into my heart. The 
flame of piety was kindled, and my tears flowed for 
joy." (8) This practice of singing had been of no 
long standing at Milan. It began about the year 
when Justina persecuted Ambrose (A. D. 386). The 
pious people watched in the church, prepared to die 
with their pastor. Augustine's mother sustained an 
eminent part in watching and praying. Then hymns 
and psalms, after the manner of the East, were sung 
with a view of preserving the people from weariness; 
and thence the custom spread through the Christian 
churches. (9) 

12 



170 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



CHAPTER III. 

EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 

FROM the testimony of Augustine, quoted at .the 
close of the preceding chapter, we are led to un- 
derstand that hymns and music were all the time 
coming into greater prominence in the services of the 
church. As was therefore to be expected, the num- 
ber of hymns representing the medieval period of 
Christian history, which, in round numbers, may be 
taken as extending from the close of the fifth century 
to the close of the fifteenth (500-1500), is many times 
greater than those representing the ancient church. 
At the beginning of the sixth century it is doubtful 
if there were in all one hundred Christian hymns in 
addition to the Jewish Psalms, which were then, 
doubtless, widely used. When Luther arose, it is es- 
timated that there were at least one thousand. As 
compared with those of the ancient church, medieval 
hymns are less extensive but more intensive. They 
comprehend less but express more, and so are more 
likely to be used with loving interest. As was to be 
expected, the development of church-life continually 
tended to more elaborate and impressive ceremonial, 
and hence church-music seems to have undergone a 
process of rapid development. Hymns began to ap- 
pear in greater numbers, and were appropriated to a 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



171 



greater variety of ecclesiastical uses. But they came 
very widely to be regarded as intended mainly for 
public service, the exclusive property of the church 
and choir. Hence, instead of simple lyrical effusions, 
as were many of the Jewish psalms, suited to the in- 
dividual, the family, and childhood, we recognize a 
tendency to make the hymn a stately and formal 
matter, fitted to hold a place in grand and impressive 
church ceremonials. In the earlier part of this me- 
dieval period we find the hymns clustering about the 
person and offices of Jesus Christ and of the Holy 
Ghost; but in the latter part of this period some of 
the most famous — such, for instance, as the " Celes- 
tial Country M and the " Dies Irse " — look forward 
to the second advent and the future life, though 
others were devoted to the praise of saints and the 
celebration of relics. But in all this period, as well 
as in the preceding, the hymns which have become 
universal and permanent are those which express, in 
directest and simplest manner, the deep aspirations of 
the devout heart for salvation and life through the 
offices of the Savior and the power of the Holy 
Ghost. Bernard's "O sacred head, now wounded," 
Gregory's "Veni, Creator Spiritus," King Robert's 
" Veni, Sancte Spiritus," and the " Veni, Redemptor 
Gentium," of Ambrose, are illustrations in point. 

The earliest of these medieval hymns which have 
come to a wide celebrity w r ere written by Venantius 
Fortunatus, an Italian gentleman, scholar, priest, and 
finally bishop, who was born about A. D. 530, and 
died A. D. 609. As in many other instances, these 
songs are more famous than the singer. Indeed it is 



172 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



not probable that his name would have come down 
to these later Christian centuries had it not been 
made illustrious by his justly celebrated hymns. 
That hymn of his, called from its opening words 
"Vexilla Regis Prodeunt," has been pronounced by 
Dr. John Mason Neale " one of the grandest in the 
treasury of the Latin church." It was composed to 
celebrate the reception of certain relics by his pa- 
troness and friend, Queen Radegund, and Gregory, 
Bishop of Tours, previous to the consecration of the 
church at Poictiers. It came at once to be used as 
a processional hymn, and, from the character of the 
theme, in those services of the church devoted to the 
memory of our Savior's passion and death. ) Sev- 
eral English versions of this hymn have been made, 
among the best of which is one by Rev. John 
Chandler : 

The royal banner is unfurled ; 

and one by Dr. John Mason Neale: 

The royal banners forward go. 

Of these, the first is best suited for general use as a 
hymn, though the second represents the original more 
faithfully and vividly. We transcribe some verses of 
the latter : 

"The royal banners forward go, 
The cross shines forth in mystic glow 
Where he in flesh, our flesh who made, 
Our sentence bore, our ransom paid, — 

Where deep for us the spear was dyed, 
Life's torrent gushing from his side, 
To wash us in that precious flood 
Where mingled water flowed, and blood. 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 173 



Fulfilled is all that David told 

In true prophetic song of old ; 

Amid the nations God, saith he, 

Hath reigned and triumphed from the tree. 

tree of beauty ! tree of light ! 
tree with royal purple dight! 
Elect, on whose triumphal breast 
Those holy limbs should find their rest ; 

On whose dear arms, so widely flung, 
The weight of this world's ransom hung, 
The price of human kind to pay, 
And spoil the spoiler of his prey." 

The last line of the third verse, " Hath reigned and 
triumphed from the tree/' is an allusion to the tenth 
verse of the ninety-sixth Psalm, which, in the old 
Italic version, reads, " Tell it out among the heathen 
that the Lord reigneth from the tree." 

It seems extraordinary that from an occasion cre- 
ated by the errors and superstition of the church a 
product so pure and spiritual as this hymn should 
have arisen. It may be that through this, as through 
a loop-hole, we look into the real character of the 
great Romish church of this time, and see that, aloug 
with its idolatries and corruptions, moves the current 
of a divine life. 

There is another hymn of Fortunatus — " Salve 
Festa Dies" — some of the associations of which are 
still more notable. It was the most widely used of 
all the processional hymns during the Middle Ages. 
It was sung by Jerome of Prague in the midst of his 
dying agonies. Cranmer translated it into English, 
and wrote a letter to King Henry the Eighth request- 



174 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



ing its formal authorization for use in the churches, 
together with other similar hymns and litanies. This 
translation of Cranmer has been lost, but the letter 
is still preserved among the state papers of Great 
Britain. Several English versions of this hymn have 
been made, one of the best of which is that com- 
mencing 

Welcome happy morning! age to age shall say/ 2 -* 

Contemporary with Fortunatus was Gregory the 
Great, born of a noble family in Rome about 550, 
and dying 604 — a man equaled by no other of his 
time and by very few of any time. Whether we 
consider his relations as a man, his devotedness and 
self-sacrifice as a Christian, his depth and clearness as 
a theologian, or his grand ability as a bishop, we find 
him worthily exercising a strong and commanding 
influence. Though not altogether free from the 
errors of his time, yet he must be accorded the credit 
of having done more than almost any other man in 
giving unity, vigor, and power to the Western church. 
A monument of his relation to church-music is the 
Gregorian chant, which places him not by the side 
of Ambrose in this regard, but clearly above him. 
This was intended for the choir and the people to sing 
in unison. It is one of the many interesting facts 
connecting the name of Gregory with Great Britain 
that the first attempt to introduce this chant into the 
churches resulted in a tumult in which many lives 
were lost. 

On his accession to the episcopacy he directed his 
earnest attention to elevating the character of 'the 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 175 



clergy and improving the services of the church. He 
complains that the bishops of his time neglected too 
much the business of preaching for outward affairs, 
and confesses that in this he accuses himself ; for, in 
spite of his own wishes, he had been compelled by the 
exigencies of the times to immerse himself in these 
external affairs. That his clergy might be suitably 
impressed with the dignity and sacredness of their 
office, he drew up for their use a " pastoral rule," in 
which he endeavored to show in what temper of mind 
the spiritual shepherd should come to his office, how 
he should live in it, how he should carefully adapt 
his methods to the end to be reached, and how guard 
against self-exaltation as he contemplates the happy 
results of his labors. On preaching he says : " Words 
that come from a cold heart can never light up the 
fervor of heavenly desires; for that which burns not 
itself can kindle nothing else." 

As intimated above, there are many links of in- 
terest binding the name of Gregory to the English 
church and people. Having one day gone into the 
slave-market, his interest was excited at the sight of 
some Anglo-Saxon youths exposed for sale there. He 
inquired who they were, and being told that they 
were " Angli," he is related to have said, " Si Chris- 
tiani sint, non Angli essent sed angeli forent." "If 
they were Christians, they would not be Angles but 
angels." He at once purchased some of them, and had 
them educated for missionary work among their coun- 
trymen. Some time later, when the way was more 
fully opened by the espousal of a Frankish princess 
to Ethelbert of Kent, he sent the Roman abbot 



176 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Augustine, with forty monks, on a mission to this land, 
and on the Pentecost of the following year the king 
and ten thousand of his subjects were baptized. An- 
other of the most interesting associations of Gregory 
with English-speaking peoples is through the great 
hymn which is prevailingly ascribed to him, " Veni, 
Creator Spiritus." By many this hymn has been at- 
tributed to Charlemagne, but by most, and with 
better reason, to Gregory. (3) No other hymn has had 
more honorable recognition in the services of both 
the Catholic and Protestant divisions of the church. 
It has been used at the coronation of kings, the cre- 
ation of popes, the consecration of bishops, the open- 
ing of synods and conferences, and the ordination of 
ministers. After the Reformation it was one of the 
first hymns translated into both German and English, 
and has doubtless in these versions come to its best 
and most spiritual uses. Bishop Cosin's English ver- 
sion was introduced into "The Book of Common 
Prayer" in 1662, and later into the Methodist Disci- 
pline, the ordinal of which was taken substantially 
from the English prayer-book. At no point in the 
services of either the Episcopal or Methodist church 
is the effect more impressive than when, after the 
solemn hush of silent prayer, the bishop and clergy 
take up responsively, 

" Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, 
And lighten with celestial fire," etc. 

On account of a slight irregularity in the meter of 
the last two lines this version of Bishop Cosin is not 
found in many of the hymn-books, though it has very 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



177 



properly been given a place in the Methodist hymnal. 
Many other versions of this hymn into English have 
been made, most of them within the last half century. 
One of the best is that commencing 

come, Creator, Spirit blest! 

Still another hymn of Gregory, translated by Ray 
Palmer, is found in recent collections: 

O Christ, our King, Creator, Lord! 

With Gregory's " Veni, Creator Spiritus," should 
be associated one of somewhat later date, but almost 
equally notable in character and history; namely, the 
"Veni, Sancte Spiritus," which has been pronounced 
by an eminent authority " the loveliest of all the 
hymns in the whole circle of Latin poetry." Its 
author was Robert II, king of France, who was born 
972, came to the throne 997, and died in 1031. We 
know little of his life ; but it has been well said that 
if we knew nothing, the hymn itself gives evidence 
of having been composed by one " acquainted with 
many sorrows and also with many consolations." Of 
the former, the history of the troublous times in 
which the king lived is sufficient proof ; of the lat- 
ter, the hymn is sweetly expressive. The king was a 
great lover of music, and used sometimes to go to 
the church of St. Denis and take direction of the 
choir at matins and vespers, and sing with the monks. 
It is said by Dean Trench that some of his musical 
as well as hymnic compositions still hold their place 
in the services of the Catholic church. The extraor- 
dinary perfection of the hymn " Veni, Sancte Spir- 
itus/' has made it exceedingly difficult to produce a 



178 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 

satisfactory version. For this reason we give it in 
full as it came from the pen of its royal author : 

" Veni, sancte spiritus, 
Et emitte coelitus 
Lucis tuse radium. 

Veni, pater pauperum, 
Veni, dator munerum, 
Veni, lumen cordium. 

Consolator optime, 
Dulcis hospes animse, 
Dulce refrigerium. 

In labore requies, 
In pestu temperies, 
In fletu solatium. 

O lux beatissima, 
Reple cordis intima 
Tuorum fidelium. 

Sine tuo numine 
Nihil est in homine, 
Nihil est innoxium. 

Lava quod est sordium, 
Riga quod est aridum, 
Sana quod est saucium. 

Flecte quod est rigidum, 
Fove quod est frigidum, 
Rege quod est devium. 

Da tuis fidelibus 
In te confidentibus 
Sacra septenarium. 

Da virtutis meritum, 
Da salutis exitum, 
Da perenne gaudium." 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



179 



Of the many excellent versions of this precious 
hymn, that of Ray Palmer is one of the best and 
most musical, though it departs from the very simple 
measure of the original : 

Come, Holy Ghost, in love.t 4 ) 

Two hymnists of lesser note stand about mid- 
way between Gregory the Great and King Robert ; 
namely, Andrew of Crete, who was born about 660 
and died in 732, and John of Damascus, who died 
about a half century later. Both were born in that 
oldest of cities Damascus, which, from the time of 
Abraham, has stood forth, always with distinctness 
and sometimes with commanding influence, in the 
history of the world. The former, in his later years, 
was Archbishop of Crete. He participated in the 
monothelite controversy, which even then agitated 
the church in some localities, at first giving his influ- 
ence in favor of this heresy, but afterward strongly 
against it. One of the best known of the hymns 
from his pen, which are still retained by the churches, 
is that commencing 

Cnristian, dost thou see them?^ 5 ") 

The original was written for use in the second week 
of the great fast of Lent, and this fact is very clearly 
reflected in the hymn itself. The translation is by 
Dr. Neale. One other hymn of similar character, 
from this same author, has fouud a place in some 
modern hymn-books : 

O the mystery passing wonder. 

More interest attaches to the personal history of 
John of Damascus, as he is also more eminent as a 



180 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



hymn-writer. Born at Damascus, he was for some 
years a priest in Jerusalem, where he also held an 
important civil office under the caliph. He was an 
accomplished scholar, and entered into the theolog- 
ical controversies of his time with great zeal and elo- 
quence. But, as many another has done, he held 
" the unsheathed sword of controversy until its glit- 
tering point drew down the lightning." He retired 
from the lists, and spent the last years of his life in 
literary and religious exercises in a convent between 
Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. He has been called 
the greatest poet among the Greek' fathers, as he is 
also the last. His best known hymn, 
The day of resurrection, (6) 

was written as a hymn of victory, and was " sung at 
the first hour of Easter morning, when, amid gen- 
eral exultation, the people were shouting, ' Christ is 
risen.'" Its intrinsic excellence is only equaled by 
its appropriateness to the soul-stirring occasion. " Of 
the many hymns of the church which celebrate the 
resurrection, perhaps no other one in common use 
was written so near the very spot where this crown- 
ing miracle of 'our holy religion actually occurred." 

St. Joseph of the Studium, born in the Island 
of Sicily 808, and dying 883, is represented in our 
modern collections by several hymns; such, for in- 
stance, as 

Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright. 

Let our choir new anthems raise. 

And wilt thou pardon, Lord ? 

Safe home, safe home in port. 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



181 



The most popular of his hymns, however, is the 
one commencing 

happy band of pilgrims. 

The version is by Dr. Neale, and is a general favor- 
ite — a bright and joyous Christian hymn. Joseph 
was early driven from his native island to Thessa- 
lonica, where he was first a monk and ultimately an 
archbishop ; but, in consequence of the fierce icono- 
clastic persecution, was obliged to betake himself to 
the covert of the Western church. Later he was 
taken by pirates, and enslaved in the island of Crete; 
but it is said of him that he " made use of his cap- 
tivity to bring his captors in subjection to the faith. " 
Afterward he betook himself to Rome, from which 
place he went into exile with his friend Photius. 
Recalled from this, he devoted himself to literary 
pursuits, and wrote many hymns, most of which, how- 
ever, being in praise of saints, are little known. 

In this general period of Christian history lived 
that man who may rightly be designated the illustrious 
leader of the most of hymn-writers in our own lan- 
guage — the Venerable Bede. Few men of this^period 
stand so fully commended to our attention and our 
admiration. Noble in character, profound in schol- 
arship, unwearied in labors, wise and zealous in his 
devotion to the church, he was a man to be both re- 
vered and loved. Not easily can England estimate 
her debt of obligation to such as he, who laid so care- 
fully and wisely the broad foundations of Biblical 
culture upon which the church, in the later centuries, 
has so successfully built. Few pictures of that dis- 



182 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



tant time are so significant and so suggestive of what 
was vital in the work of the church of that period 
as that of the closing scene in the life of this eminent 
man. The history of this quiet and sublime death- 
scene is by no means an unfamiliar one ; and it is of 
special interest because it furnishes a setting for the 
oldest uninspired words of praise in any language 
which have been crystallized into permanent form — 
the Gloria Patri. The venerable scholar and monk 
had been ill for several weeks, but not so as to inter- 
rupt his work of translation, on which he had become 
so intent. About Easter, 735, he saw that his end 
was approaching, and looked forward to it with cease- 
less gratitude, rejoicing that he was accounted worthy 
thus to suffer. He quoted much from Holy Scripture 
and from Saxon hymns, but kept himself busy with 
his translation of the Gospel of John. Ascension- 
day drew near, and his illness had greatly increased, 
but he only labored the more diligently. On Wednes- 
day his scribe said: "One chapter remains, but I 
fear it must be painful for you to dictate." " It is 
easy," replied Bede. " Take your pen and write 
quickly." The work was continued for some time, 
but again interrupted. Bede directed his servant to 
fetch his little treasures from his casket — his pepper, 
kerchiefs, and incense — that he might distribute them 
among his friends. He passed the remainder of the 
day in holy and cheerful conversation. His boy 
scribe, with pious importunity, again reminded him 
of his unfinished task. "One sentence, dear master, 
still remains unwritten." "Write quickly," he an- 
swered. The boy wrote and said: "It is completed 



EARLIER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



183 



now." "Well," Bede replied, "thou hast said the 
truth. All is ended. Take my head in thy hands. 
I would sit in the holy place where I was wont to 
pray, that, so sitting, I may call upon my Father." 
Thereupon, resting upon the floor of his cell, he 
chanted the Gloria Patri — " Glory be to the Father, 
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost"— and while 
the name of the Holy Spirit was on his lips he 
passed away. 

If not conspicuous in the realm of sacred song, 
yet certainly the Venerable Bede is deserving of hon- 
orable mention. Among his works were a " Book on 
the Art of Poetry " and " A Book of Hymns in Sev- 
eral sorts of Metre and Rhyme." It is said of him 
that he took great delight in the singing of hymns, 
and in his last sickness, when his asthma prevented 
his sleeping, he was wont to solace himself in this 
way. Among the hymns for which the modern 
church is indebted to Bede are : 

The great forerunner of the morn. 

A hymn of glory let us sing. 

A hymn for martyrs sweetly sing. 

This last is perhaps the best known. It was inserted 
in the earlier editions of the "Hymns Ancient and 
Modern," the version being changed from that of Dr. 
Neale. The original has stanzas of eight lines, each 
of which begins and ends with the same line. To 
illustrate, w T e transcribe two stanzas: 

"Fear not, little flock and blest, 
The lion that your life oppressed ; 
To heavenly pastures ever new 
The heavenly Shepherd leadeth you ; 



184 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Who, dwelling now on Zion's hill, 
The Lamb's dear footsteps follow still ; 
By tyrant there no more distressed, 
Fear not, little flock and blest. 



And every tear is wiped away 

By your dear Father's hand for aye ; 

Death hath no power to hurt you more 

Whose own is life's eternal shore. 

Who sow their seed, and sowing weep, 

In everlasting joy shall reap, 

What time they shine in heavenly day, 

And every tear is wiped away." 

Another of these hymns shows still more power 
of lyrical expression, and is not unsuited for use in 
the congregations : 

" A hymn of glory let us sing: 
New hymns throughout the world shall ring; 
By a new way none ever trod 
Christ mounted to the throne of God. 

The apostles on the mountain stand, 
The mystic mount in holy land ; 
They, with the virgin mother, see 
Jesus ascend in majesty. 

The angels say to the eleven, 
Why stand ye gazing into heaven? 
This is the Savior, this is he ; 
Jesus hath triumphed gloriously. 

They said the Lord should come again, 
As these beheld him rising then, 
Calm, soaring through the radiant sky, 
Mounting its dazzling summits high. 

May our affections thither tend, 
And thither constantly ascend, 
Where, seated on the Father's throne, 
Thee, reigning in the heavens, we own !" 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



185 



CHAPTER IV. 

LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 

IN a desolate region near the River Seine, in the 
north-easterly part of France, is a wild valley in- 
closed by mountains, which in the eleventh century 
was a nest of robbers, and for that reason was called 
" The Valley of Wormwood but after the banditti 
were driven out, it was called Clairvaux — " Clear 
Valley." Here, in 1115, was established a monastery 
of the Cistercian Order, with a young man of twenty- 
four as abbot, famous in history as Bernard ot Clair- 
vaux. So magical was his influence that speedily 
this sterile valley became one of the great centers of 
power for all Europe, rivaling even Rome itself. 
From it were sent out missionaries to all parts 01 
France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, England, 
Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden, for the establishment 
of new monasteries, or the reformation of old ones; 
so that at the time of Bernard's death, thirty-seven 
years later, there were no less than one hundred 
and sixty monasteries which had been formed under 
his influence. 

Bernard was born in a small town in Burgundy, 
in the year 1091, and was educated at the University 
of Paris. His father was a knight, his mother a 
saint. To this superior woman, as to the mothers of 
Augustine and the Wesleys, must be attributed much 

13 



186 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



of the strength of character exhibited by her remark- 
able son. She brought all her children — seven sons 
and a daughter — as soon as they saw the light, to the 
altar, that she might solemnly consecrate them to 
God; which consecration she followed up by wise, 
tender, patient, and loving instruction. As a result, 
strong religious impressions were early made upon 
the mind of Bernard, who was the third of her sons, 
and after his mother's death they matured into his 
taking the vows of monastic devotion. 

Bernard was altogether the grandest man of this 
dark time. Luther calls him a the best monk that 
ever lived. " In his personal influence he was might- 
ier than kings or popes, and was often the chosen 
and trusted counselor of both. He was repeatedly 
sought as bishop for influential centers in the church, 
but steadily refused all ecclesiastical preferment. 
Trench says: " There have been other men — Augus- 
tine and Luther, for instance — who, by their words 
and writings, have plowed deeper and more lasting 
furrows in the great field of the church, but probably 
no man, during his own life-time, ever exercised a 
'personal influence in Christendom equal to his." It 
is hardly to be wondered at that, in this time of pop- 
ular ignorance and superstition, he should be credited 
by the common people with the power of miracle- 
working, nor even that he himself should seem to 
share that belief. Indeed his whole career seems to 
have been one continuous and splendid miracle. His 
brothers were at first violently opposed to his enter- 
ing upon a monastic life, and for a long time a fierce 
struggle was kept up in his own breast. But as he 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



187 



was going one night to visit one of his brothers, who 
was a knight and at that time engaged in beleaguer- 
ing a castle, the memory of his dead mother came to 
him with such resistless force that he was constrained 
to enter a church by the road-side, and, with a flood 
of tears, he poured out his heart before God, and sol- 
emnly consecrated himself to his service in a life of 
monasticism. Such w T as the fervor of his zeal and the 
force of his personal influence that all his brothers 
but one, who was then a mere child, together with 
others of his relatives and friends, were induced to 
join him in this course of life. That this humble 
monk, at the head of a new monastery, in an obscure 
and uninfluential region, should so suddenly have 
risen above all crowned and mitred heads, is truly 
marvelous, and evinces extraordinary qualities of per- 
sonal nature and character. 

What distinguished Bernard above all other men 
of his time, and most men of all time, was the union 
in his character of a piety singularly ardent and spir- 
itual with transcendent administrative ability. Almost 
the only man fully worthy to be compared with him 
in this regard is John Wesley. He was both con- 
templative and practical. He felt the full power of 
the forces of the invisible world, and under their 
pressure he brought to bear upon the outward world 
a many-sided activity. He felt himself to be in the 
world on God's errand. " I must," he says, " whether 
willing or unwilling, live for Him who has acquired 
a property in my life by giving up His own for me." 
"To whom am I more bound to live than to Him 
whose death is the cause of my living? To whom 



188 STUDIES IN HYMNOL OGY. 



can I devote my life with greater advantage than to 
Him who promises me the life eternal? To whom 
with greater necessity than to Him who threatens the 
everlasting fire? But I serve Him with freedom, 
since love brings freedom? To this, dear brethren, 
I invite you. Serve in that love which casteth out 
fear, feels no toils, thinks of no merit, asks no re- 
ward, and yet carries with it a mightier constraint 
than all things else." In such words as these do we 
see the secret of his wonderful and sublime life. 

Seven poems from the pen of Bernard have been 
preserved; but most of his hymns which are in use 
are from one of these — different versions of different 
parts. The best known of these hymns are: 

O sacred head now wounded. 

Of Him who did salvation bring. 

We sinners. Lord, with earnest heart. 

Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts. 

Jesus, the very thought of thee. 

O Jesus, King most wonderful. 

O Jesus, thou the beauty art. W 

The first of these is the most famous, and indeed 
one of the most distinguished of all medieval hymns. 
In its present form it is a translation of a translation, 
and hence is, in a special sense, a monument of the 
unity of the Christian church. Its first translator into 
German, and in some sense co-author, was that prince 
of German hymnists, Paul Gerhardt; while the trans- 
lator into English was the distinguished American 
Presbyterian, Dr. James W. Alexander. In this ver- 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



189 



sion the hymn is adopted in most English hymnals of 
recent date ; the only ones showing any disposition to 
pass it by being those of the so-called liberalistic 
faith, it being unacceptable in them because of the 
prominence it gives to the death of Christ. Dr. 
Philip Schaff says: "This classical hymn has shown 
an imperishable vitality in passing from the Latin 
into the German and from the German into the 
English, and proclaiming in three tongues, and in 
the name of three confessions — the Catholic, the 
Lutheran, and the Reformed — with equal effect, the 
dying love of our Savior and our boundless indebted- 
ness to Him." It was this hymn which the mission- 
ary Schwartz sung, literally with his dying breath. 
Indeed he was thought to be already dead, and his 
friend and fellow-laborer, Gericke, with several of 
the native Tamil converts, began to chant over his 
lifeless remains this hymn of Bernard, which had 
been translated into Tamil and was a special favorite 
with Schwartz. The first verse was finished without 
any sign of recognition, or even of life, from the still 
form before them ; but when the last clause was over, 
the voice which was supposed to be hushed in death, 
took up the second stanza of the hymn, completed it 
with distinct and articulate utterance, and then was 
heard no more. His spirit had risen on this hymn 
into the society of angels and the presence of God. 

By an eminent authority, Adam of St. Victor is 
pronounced "the greatest of the Latin hymnologists 
of the Middle Ages." So little is known of his per- 
sonal history that it is still a matter of uncertainty 
whether he was born in the island of Great Britain 



190 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



or in Brittany in France, though probably the latter. 
He pursued his studies at Paris, and his works show 
him to have been a man of thorough literary and the- 
ological culture. He was contemporary with Bernard 
of Clairvaux, but seems to have outlived him by at 
least a quarter of a century. He was the most pro- 
lific as well as elegant hymn-writer of the medieval 
period, leaving behind him about one hundred hymns, 
of which at least one-half are of acknowledged excel- 
lence. As often happens, however, his hymns have a 
special charm and subtlety which seems almost indis- 
solubly connected with the language in which they 
were written, and so has baffled the translators. Very 
few of them have come into our own language in a 
form which either does justice to the original, or is 
well suited for use in public worship. Miller, in his 
" Singers and Songs of the Church," quotes two from 
the " People's Hymnal :" 

The church on earth with answering love. ' 

The praises that the blessed know. 

Both are translations by Dr. Neale. We quote one 
verse of the latter, which reminds us of a verse of 
Watts, as do both remind us of a verse in one of 
David's Psalms: 

" One day of those most glorious rays 
Is better than ten thousand days, 
Kefulgent with celestial light, 
And with God's fullest knowledge bright." 

We also transcribe a portion of the former, which 
may serve to suggest something of the peculiar qual- 
ities of this eminent hymnist : 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



191 



"The church on earth, with answering love, 
Echoes her mother's joys above ; 
These yearly feast-days she may keep, 
And yet for endless festals weep. 

In this world's valley, dim and wild, 
That mother must assist the child; 
And heavenly guards must pitch their tents, 
And range their ranks in our defense. 

That distant city, how blest ! 
Whose feast-days know nor pause nor rest ; 
How gladsome is that palace-gate, 
Round which nor fear nor sorrow wait ! 

Nor languor here, nor weary age, 
Nor fraud, nor dread of hostile rage ; 
But one the joy, and one the song, 
And one the heart of all the throng." 

But it is agreed on all bands that there is a 
subtlety and grace in the original that even this emi- 
nent translator fails to represent. Possibly a more 
just conception of the author may be gained from 
Mrs. Charles's version of his poem — it can hardly be 
called a hymn — on Affliction : 

"As the harp-strings only render 
All their treasures of sw r eet sound, 
All their music, glad or tender, 
Firmly struck, and tightly bound; 

So the hearts of Christians owe, 

Each its deepest, sweetest strain, 
To the pressure firm of w r oe, 

And the tension tight of pain. 

Spices, crushed, their pungence yield ; 

Trodden scents their sweets respire; 
Would you have its strength revealed, 

Cast the incense in the fire. 



192 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Thus the crushed and broken frame 

Oft doth sweetest graces yield ; 
And through suffering, toil, and shame — 
From the martyr's keenest flame — 

Heavenly incense is distilled." 

The famous hymns of this period are : " The 
Celestial Country," "The Stabat Mater," and the 
"Dies Irse;" which have been pronounced, and in 
the order given, the most beautiful, the most pathetic, 
and the most sublime of medieval poems. 

The author of the first was Bernard of Cluny, of 
whom we know almost nothing save the name, and 
that he lived in the first half of the twelfth century. 
Even the place of his birth is a matter of uncertainty, 
most authorities placing it in Morlaix, in Bretagne ; 
others, in Morlas, in the Pyrenees Mountains ; while 
one author gives his birthplace to England, and classes 
him with her illustrious writers. He was a monk, 
and though this type of life was not likely to be 
eventful, so as to admit of very definite and individ- 
ualizing record, yet we may with safety take the gen- 
eral picture of monasticism in this period, and write 
under it the name of any individual monk in whom 
we have come to feel an interest. There is a beauti- 
ful tradition of another monk of this time — the author 
of the " Imitation," as well as some hymns which for 
his sake are cherished — that may serve to suggest one 
characteristic feature of a monastic life, and one secret 
of the wonderful power which sdme of these men, 
separated from the world, have actually wielded. It 
is said of Thomas a Kempis (1379-1471) that he was 
wont to walk with his brother monks in the'- cloisters 
and retreats of his order, but would sometimes sud- 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 193 



denly stop, and exclaim: "Dear brethren, I must go. 
There is some one waiting for me in my cell." That 
some one was the Lord Jesus, whose name, as Ber- 
nard himself said, is "honey in the mouth, melody in 
the ear, joy in the heart, and medicine in the soul." 

Bernard's great poem — " De Contemptu Mundi " — 
contains three thousand lines, written in a meter so 
difficult as to give color to the claim of the author 
that he could never have written without the special 
help and inspiration of God. Each line in the orig- 
inal consists of the three parts, the first two of which 
rhyme with each other, while the lines themselves 
are in couplets of double rhyme. The music of the 
original is easily recognized, even by those who are 
not familiar with the Latin tongue : 

"Hora novissima, tempora pessima, sunt vigilemus 
Ecce minaciter, iinminet arbiter, ille supremus, 
Imminet, imminet, et mala terminet sequa coronet 
Recta remuneret, anxia liberet, aethera donet." ( 3 ) 

A portion of this poem was translated a few years 
since by Dr. Neale, and given to the public under 
this title—" The Rhythm of Bernard de Morlaix, Monk 
of Cluny, on the Celestial Country " — from which 
version have been taken the hymns in common use 
from Bernard. These are : 

The world is very evil. 

Brief life is here our portion. 

For thee, dear, dear country. 

Jerusalem, the golden. 

Dr. Neale in his notes on Bernard says : " Thank- 
ful am I that Cluniac's verses should have soothed 



194 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



so many of God's servants. The most striking in- 
stance of which I know is that of a child, who, when 
suffering agonies which the medical attendants de- 
clared to be almost unparalleled, would lie, without 
a murmur or motion, while the whole four hundred 
lines of the translation were read to him." 

The editor of " The Seven Great Hymns of the 
Medieval Church " calls this poem " a description of 
the celestial land, more beautiful than ever before 
was wrought out in verse." " The hymn of this 
heavenly monk," says Christophers, " has found its 
way into the hearts of all Christians, and into the 
choirs and public services of all Christian churches." 
Perhaps no other hymns on heaven are more widely 
used, or more strictly ecumenical, than those which 
have been made from this poem. It may not be 
without interest to read the testimony of the author 
of the version as to the music to which these words 
should be sung : " I have been so often asked to 
what tune the words of Bernard should be sung, that 
I may here mention that of Mr. Ewing, the earliest 
written, the best known, and, with children, the most 
popular; that of my friend, the Rev. H. L. Jenner, 
perhaps the most ecclesiastical ; and that of another 
friend, Mr. Edmund Sedding, which, to my mind, 
best expresses the meaning of the words." Of the$e 
the tune Ewing is in common use in the American 
churches, and is certainly fully deserving of the honor 
of being permanently associated with " Jerusalem, 
the golden." 

The "Stabat Mater" was written a hundred years 
later by Jacobus de Benedictus, a man of a noble 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. * 195 



Italian family, and a jurist of eminent distinction. 
Broken-hearted at the death of his wife — who lost her 
life by an accident at a theater — he renounced the 
world to join the order of St. Francis, seeking by 
self-inflicted physical tortures to chastise his soul into 
submission and peace. It is also related, though this 
has been questioned, that his sorrows drove him to 
insanity and death. He was certainly a man of rare 
zeal and courage. He so vigorously attacked the re- 
ligious abuses of his time as to bring him into col- 
lision with Pope Boniface VIII, who caused him to 
be thrown into prison, from which he was only lib- 
erated at the death of his papal enemy. A single 
anecdote of this imprisonment shows the spirit of the 
man. When the pope sent to him a taunting mes- 
sage — "When will you get out?" — he answered by 
sending back the reply : " When will you get in ?" 

The hymn is characterized in a pre-eminent degree 
by tenderness and pathos; in these regards surpassing 
all other hymns of the Latin church. One of the 
best translations of it is that made by our own dis- 
tinguished scholar and statesman, General Dix, late 
governor of the State of New York. Simply to illus- 
trate the hymn — which, though it holds a conspic- 
" uous place in sacred music and in the literature of the 
church, is yet, on account of a certain tinge of Mari- 
olatry, not ordinarily found in Protestant hymn- 
books — we quote a few lines of the above-mentioned 
version, which is faithful and felicitous in diction and 
measure : (4) 

" Near the cross the Savior bearing 
Stood the mother lone, despairing, 

« 



196 



STUDIES IX HYMXOLOGY. 



Bitter tears down-falling fast; 
Wearied was her heart with grieving, 
Worn her breast with sorrow heaving. 

Through, her soul the sword had passed. 

Ah '. how sad and broken-hearted 
Was that blessed mother, parted 

From the God-begotten One ; 
How her loving heart did languish, 
When she saw the mortal anguish 

Which o'erwhelmed her peerless Son! 

Who could witness, without weeping, 
Such a flood of sorrow sweeping 

O'er the stricken mother's breast? 
Who contemplate, without being 
Moved to kindred grief by seeing. 

Son and mother thus oppressed? 

For our sins she saw him bending, 
And the cruel lash descending 

On his body stripped and bare ; 
Saw her own dear Jesus dying, 
Heard his spirit's last outcrying. 

Sharp with anguish and despair. 

Gentle mother, love's pure fountain! 
Cast, cast on me the mountain 

Of thy grief, that I may weep ; 
Let my heart, with ardor burning, 
Christ's unbounded love returning, 

His rich favor win and keep." 

There is a companion hymn to this, written by 
the same author^ which has but recently been brought 
to the attention of the Christian public. 5 It is 
called the "'Mater Speciosa," as might the other be 
called the " Mater Dolorosa."' From the oblivion of 
centuries it has been rescued by editors and trans- 
lators of the present generation. Dr. Neale having given 
his English version of this hymn to the public in 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 197 



1866. As the " Stabat Mater" represents .Mary 
standing at the cross, the " Mater Speciosa 99 repre- 
sents her by the manger. As, therefore, the first is a 
hymn for Good Friday, the latter is a Christmas hymn 
of singular delicacy, beauty, and warmth of feeling. 
We quote a part of Dr. Xeale's version : 

"Full of beauty stood the mother 
By the manger, blest o'er other, 
, Where her little one she lays ; 
For her inmost soul's elation, 
In its fervid jubilation, 
Thrills with ecstasy of praise. 

Oh! what glad, what rapturous feeling 
Filled that blessed mother, kneeling 

By the sole-begotten One ! 
How, her heart with laughter bounding, 
She beheld the work astounding, 

Saw his birth — the glorious Son! 



Jesus lying in the manger, 
Heavenly armies sang the stranger, 

In the great joy-bearing part; 
Stood the old man with the maiden, 
No words speaking, only laden 

With this wonder in their heart. 

Mother, fount of love still flowing, 
Let me, with thy rapture glowing, 

Learn to sympathize with thee ; 
Let me raise my heart's devotion 
Up to Christ with pure emotion, 

That accepted I may be." 

But the great hymn of this period, and of all 
periods, is the " Dies Irae." It is commonly at- 
tributed to a Franciscan monk of the thirteenth 
century — Thomas of Celano — but the evidence as to 



* 



198 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



the identity of the author is by no means conclusive. 
Thomas was a personal friend as well as pupil of St. 
Francis, and was selected by Pope Gregory to write 
his life. His native home was in a small town in 
the kingdom of Naples; but so little is known of him 
that not even the dates of his birth and death can be 
accurately given. In truth, then, this great hymn 
may be fitly characterized as " a solemn strain, sung 
by an invisible singer." " There is a hush in the 
great choral service of the universal church, when 
suddenly, we scarcely know whence, a single voice, 
low and trembling, breaks the silence ; so low and 
grave that it seems to deepen the stillness, yet so clear 
an4 deep that its softest tones are heard throughout 
Christendom and vibrate through every heart — grand 
and echoing as an organ, yet homely and human, as 
if the words were spoken rather than sung. And 
through the listening multitudes, solemnly that mel- 
ody flows on, sung not to the multitudes, but 'to the 
Lord/ and therefore carrying with it the hearts of 
men, till the singer is no more solitary; but the self- 
same, tearful, solemn strain pours from the lips of the 
whole church as if from one voice, and yet each one 
sings as if alone to God." (6) 

The hymn has been a force in the world of letters, 
as well as that of religious thought and experience. 
It has passed into upwards of two hundred transla- 
tions, and has called forth the admiration of the most 
eminent scholars. The sturdy Dr. Johnson confessed, 
with Sir Walter Scott, that he could not recite it 
without tears. Mozart made it the basis of his cele- 
brated requiem, and became so intensely excited by 



9 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



199 



the theme as to hasten his own death. With what 
power do those few stanzas burst upon us in Scott's 
" Lay of the Last Minstrel !" — 

"Then mass was sung, and prayers were said, 

And solemn requiem for the dead, 

And bells tolled out their mighty peal, 

For the departed spirit's weal: 

And ever in the office close 

The hymn of intercession rose ; 

And far the echoing aisles prolong 

The awful burden of the song — 
' Dies ir?e, dies ilia, 

Solvet saeclum in favilla ;' 
While the pealing organ rung; 

Were it meet with sacred strain 

To close my lay, so light and vain, 
Thus the holy fathers sung: 

That day of wrath, that dreadful day, 
When heaven and earth shall pass away, 
What power shall be the sinner's stay ? 
How shall he meet that dreadful day ? 

When, shriveling like a parched scroll, 
The flaming heavens together roll ; 
When louder yet, and yet more dread, 
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead ! 

Oh ! on that day, that wrathful day, 
When man to judgment wakes from clay, 
Be thou the trembling sinner's stay, 
Though heaven and earth shall pass away !" 

This version by Sir Walter Scott is not strictly a 
translation, nor yet an imitation, but rather one of 
the many echoes which the " Dies Irse " has awakened 
in the literature of the world. It is, however, faith- 
ful to the spirit of the original, and of remarkable 
power. The hold which it had on the mind of its 



200 



STUDIES IX HYMXOLOGY. 



eminent author was shown by his frequent repetition 
of it in the delirium of his final illness. 

As already stated, the versions of this hymn may 
be counted by the hundred. A single author col- 
lected about eighty versions into the German language 
alone. A large number of excellent versions have 
been made into our own language by Irons, Coles, 
Earl Roscommon, Crashaw, Stanley, General Dix, 
and others. Several of these are of marked excel- 
lence ; but that of Dean Stanley has some advantages 
for being set to music, while it is, at the same time, 
very faithful as a translation. The opening line of 
this version is : 

Day of wrath! dreadful day! 

The version of Dr. Irons will, however, be thought 
by many to represent more vividly the spirit of the 
original, though the meter is such as to make it very 
difficult to find music for it, adapted to the ordi- 
nary use of a congregation. From this version we 
transcribe : 

"Day of wrath ! day of mourning! 
See ! once more the cross returning, 
Heaven and earth in ashes burning ! 

what fear man's bosom rendeth, 
When from heaven the judge descendeth, 
On whose sentence all dependeth ! 

Wondrous sound the trumpet rlingeth. 
Through earth's sepulchers it ringeth, 
All before the throne it bringeth ! 

Death is struck, and nature quaking, 

All creation is awaking, 

To its judge an answer making! 



LATER MEDIEVAL HYMNS. 



201 



Lo ! the book, exactly worded, 
Wherein all hath been recorded ; 
Thence shall judgment be awarded! 

What shall I, frail man, be pleading ? 
Who for me be interceding, 
When the just are mercy needing? 

Righteous Judge of Retribution, 

Grant thy gift of absolution, 

Ere that reckoning day's conclusion!" 

About a century earlier dates the more joyous 
but less famous counterpart of the " Dies Irse/' known 
as the " Dies Ilia." Its author is unknown. It is 
well represented in the excellent version of Mrs. 
Charles : 

Lo! the day, the day of life! 
14 



202 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



CHAPTER V. 

HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 

" r I A HE hymns of Germany have been her true na- 
tional liturgy. In England the worship of the 
Reformed church was linked to that of past ages by 
the Prayer-book ; in Germany, by the hymn-book." 
We can mark some connections between the hymns 
and music of the Middle Ages and the psalmody of 
the German church, showing the steps by which the 
one passed over into the other. 

The humble beginnings of German hymnology, 
which has come to a development so marvelously rich, 
were made in the ninth century. In the time of Char- 
lemagne, the only part which the people were allowed 
to take in the services of the church was to chant the 
"Kyrie Eleison" in the litany, and that only on ex- 
traordinary occasions, such as the great feasts, proces- 
sions, and the consecration of churches. But in Ger- 
many, during the following century, short verses in 
the vernacular were' introduced at such times, of 
which the refrain was " Kyrie Eleison," and this was 
the beginning of hymnody in the German language. 
The oldest German Easter hymn dates from the 
twelfth century. The Latin hymn, " In the midst 
of life," one sentence of which stands in the English 
Prayer-book, in the order for the burial of the dead, 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 



203 



and is said actually to have been taken by Robert 
Hall as a text for the preparation of a sermon, under 
the impression that it was a sentence of Holy Scrip- 
ture, was written by Notker, a learned Benedictine, 
near the beginning of the tenth century. It was 
suggested to him as he was watching some workmen 
who were building the bridge of Martinsburg at the 
peril of their lives. The hymn attained to a wonder- 
ful celebrity, and was even used as a battle song, 
until finally its use in this way was forbidden on ac- 
count of its being supposed to exercise a magical in- 
fluence. It was early translated into German, and 
this version formed a part of the service for the burial 
of the dead a^ early as the thirteenth century. 

The Flagellant fanaticism exerted an important 
influence in fostering and establishing the practice of 
singing hymns in the vernacular of the people. Pro- 
cessions of these pious pilgrims would go through the 
towns and cities, singing hymns and chants, which 
found ready access to the hearts of the people, and 
became a very influential factor in this extraordinary 
movement. The great Hussite movement, which 
stirred the church more profoundly, and interested 
some of the most cultured and spiritual men of the 
fifteenth century, gave new impetus and dignity to 
this tendency, so that really useful popular hymns 
were originated. In 1504 a considerable volume of 
hymns, which had been in use among the " Bohemian 
Brethren," was published by Lucas, one of their 
bishops. In the fifteenth century German hymns 
came to be used in special services and solemnities of 
the church, and, in some cases, even at the principal 



204 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



service and at mass. Mixed hymns, half Latin and 
half German, also contributed their influence to break- 
ing down the barrier between the learned clergy and 
the common people, and also between the church and 
the home. Translations and adaptations of the old 
Latin hymns now begin to appear. In this later 
medieval period, too, we mark for the first time a 
type of hymn which has too often since then reap- 
peared, and sometimes in forms peculiarly shocking 
and profane. Secular and love songs were, by slight 
changes, appropriated to religious uses, carrying the 
original melody with them into the service of relig- 
ion. For instance, a popular ditty, originally in- 
tended for wandering apprentices, commencing 

" Inspruck, I must leave thee, 
And go my lonely way, 
Far hence to foreign lands," etc., 

was changed to 

" O world, I must leave thee, 
And go my lonely way 
Unto my Father's home," etc. 

So in this country, and in this century, a song com- 
mencing 

"Thou, love, reigriest in this bosom; 
There, there hast thou thy throne ; 
Thou, thou knowest that 1 love thee — 
Am I not fondly thine own?" 

has been published and sung, 

"Thou, Lord,, reignest in this bosom," etc. 

Another instance, still more grotesque, though scarcely 
more shocking, was furnished in the times of what 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 205 



was known as the Millerite excitement, in 1843. To 
the familiar and popular tune known as " The Old 
Granite State " such words as these were sung: 

" You will see your Lord a-coming, 
You will see your Lord a-coming, 
You will see your Lord a-coming 

In the old church-yard; 
While a band of music, 
While a band of music, 
While a band of music 

Will be sounding through the air." 

Other verses were : 

"You will see the dead arising." 
"We'll march up into the city." 

A hymn is preserved from St. Francis, the founder 
of the Franciscan order, of a different type, but 
equally marked and peculiar. In this hymn he in- 
troduces "Brother Sun," "Sister Moon," "Brother 
Wind," "Sister Water," "Mother Earth," and 
" Brother Death " as praising the Creator. 

But it was reserved for the church of the Refor- 
mation to show the true office of the hymn, and to 
illustrate its character. As the warmth of spring re- 
leases the streams from their icy fetters, and calls 
back again their rippling melodies, so did the light 
and warmth of the Reformation era bring back into 
the homes and hearts of the people their long-lost 
music. This is illustrated in the sudden and extraor- 
dinary multiplication of hymns, and the great vari- 
ety of uses to which they were appropriated. When 
Luther arose there were not, so far as can now be 
told, more than one thousand hymns in the entire 



206 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



church j now there are more than one hundred thou- 
sand. Then the hymn was something grand, formal, 
artistic, suited for liturgical use, the peculiar and ex- 
clusive property of the priest, the choir, and the 
temple ; now the church is beginning to learn that 
the whole universe is set to music ; that the echoes 
of the " morning stars " are always resounding in our 
air ; that wherever there is a worshiper, there may be, 
and ought to be, a hymn. As the earliest Christian 
hymn whose author can be identified is suited espe- 
cially to childhood and the life of the home ; as the 
" Magnificat" and the "Nunc Dimittis" were prima- 
rily private and personal rather than public and 
liturgical ; as the psalms of the Jews touch upon all 
conditions of their life, many of them seeming to be 
for the household or the individual rather than the 
gr?at assembly, so again hymns became the liturgy 
of the people, and the words of joyous, holy song 
shook the world. 

Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, November 
10, 1483. His father was a poor miner, who sup- 
ported his family by daily toil. He was educated 
first at the Latin school of Mansfeldt, then at the 
Franciscan school of Magdeburg, where he supported 
himself by singing from door to door; then at the 
school of Eisenach, where the wife of Conrad Cotta 
befriended and aided him ; and finally at the Univer- 
sity of Erfurth, from which he took the master's de- 
gree and also that of Doctor of Philosophy. At the 
age of twenty-two he entered the monastery of St. 
Augustine, and three years later he was made Pro- 
fessor of Philosophy in the University of Wittem- 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 



207 



berg. He posted his famous theses against indul- 
gences in 1517, and three years later he took the 
boldest step of his life, in publicly burning the papal 
bull of excommunication. In 1522 his version of 
the New Testament was given to the public; in 1525 
he was married ; and he died at Wittemberg, Febru- 
ary 18, 1546. 

This great leader in the older Reformation was 
so passionately fond of music that it used to be said 
of him that his soul could find its fullest expression 
only through his flute amid tears. " Music," said he, 
" is one of the most beautiful and noble gifts of God. 
It is the best solace to a man in sorrow; it quiets, 
quickens, and refreshes the heart. I give music the 
next place and the highest honor after theology." A 
similar testimony he bears also to poetry, confessing 
that he has been "more influenced and delighted by 
poetry than by the most eloquent oration of Cicero 
and Demosthenes." His enemies said of him that he 
did more harm by his hymns than by his sermons; 
and Coleridge says "he did as much for the Refor- 
mation by his hymns as by his translation of the 
Bible." Thirty-seven of Luther's hymns have been 
preserved, some of them being versions of the He- 
brew Psalms, others versions of the old Latin hymns, 
while still others are original both as to form and 
subject matter. The earliest of these is believed to 
be that one the English version of which commences 

Flung to the heedless winds/ 1 ) 

which was called forth by the martyrdom of two 
young Christian monks, who were burnt alive at 



208 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Brussels. Interpreted by such an event, it is a sub- 
lime and characteristic testimony to the same faith 
which is so resplendent in Luther's entire history. 
But his great hymn, and perhaps, taken all in all, his 
most characteristic production, is that commencing 
" Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" — " A strong tower is 
our God." Rough and rugged, full of strength, but 
with little beauty, it is eminently worthy of him 
whose very words were half battles. It was com- 
posed at the time when the evangelical princes deliv- 
ered their protest at the second Diet of Spires, in 
1529, from which event the name " Protestant" had 
its origin. The hymn at once became one of the 
watchwords of the Reformation, as it has since come 
to be regarded the national hymn of Germany. After 
Luther's death, one day Melanchthon was at Weimar, 
with his banished friends Jonas and Creuziger, and 
heard a little girl singing this hymn in the street. 
" Sing on, my little maid," said he ; " you little know 
what famous people you comfort." 

One of the very best of the many English ver- 
sions of this hymn is that by Rev. Dr. Hedge, com- 
mencing 

A mighty fortress is our God.( 2 ) 
Even more characteristic is Carlyle's version : 
A safe stronghold our God is still. 

This hymn has had a notable history. As its origin 
was coincident with the Protestant name, so it has 
ever been regarded as one of the great representative 
hymns of the Protestant church. It was sung by 
that noble Christian hero Gustavus Adolphus, on the 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 



209 



morning of the day on which he sealed his fidelity to 
God with his blood. The two armies had been drawn 
up, and were waiting for the morning mist to disperse 
in order that the struggle might begin. At the com- 
mand of Gustavus the whole army joined in singing 
Luther's grand psalm, and then the hymn which has 
since been called by his own name, " The Battle- 
hymn of Gustavus Adolphus 

Fear not, little flock, the foe/ 3 ) 

Immediately afterward the mist broke, and the glory 
of the morning sunshine came down upon the scene. 
For a moment the king knelt down beside his horse, 
in the presence of his soldiers, and repeated his usual 
battle-prayer: " O Lord Jesus Christ, bless our arms 
and this day's battle for the glory of thy holy name." 
Then, passing along the lines, he spake brief words 
of encouragement, and gave the battle-cry, " God 
with us !" Thus began that memorable battle which 
laid low in the thickest of the fight the noblest king 
and soldier Europe has had since the Reformation. 

There are many interesting associations connected 
with another hymn of Luther : " Out of the depths I 
cry to thee." It was written in 1524, soon after its 
author was fairly launched in his new career as the 
leader of a great and difficult movement. It is an 
impassioned and earnest appeal to God out of the 
depths of his conscious weakness and helplessness. 
It was eagerly taken up by the people, who were 
bound to him by the same ties of danger and extrem- 
ity which the very conditions of the Eeformation 
gave rise to. Later it came to be used as a funeral 



210 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



hymn, and it was sung, amid tears and lamentations, 
at Luther's own funeral. 

The hymn of Gustavus Adolphus is, in many re- 
gards, more perfect and better suited for ordinary use 
than that of Luther. It seems to have come from 
the royal author whose name it bears, but in what 
precise form can not now be determined. It has, 
however, been conjectured that the substance of it, 
and perhaps much of the language, was written by 
Gustavus, and that his chaplain, Fabricius, threw it 
into its perfect metrical form ; but it can not now be 
determined whether the original was in Swedish or 
German, though, as representing the king himself, the 
former would seem to have special interest. There 
are few better hymns of Christian trust and courage 
than this. A community in our own land, on that 
terrible Monday when we learned of the disastrous 
defeat at Bull Run, found in this old battle-hymn 
words adapted to the trying emergency : 

"Fear not, little flock, the foe 
Who madly seeks your overthrow, 
Dread not his rage and power ; 
What though your courage sometimes faints, 
This seeming triumph o'er God's saints 
Lasts but a little hour." 

The Hussite movement was represented in the 
fifteenth century by the " Bohemian Brethren," and 
among these Christians, even before Luther arose, a 
very considerable psalmody was developed. This 
was one important source of the hymnody of the 
Lutherans. Both in doctrine and life the church of 
the Reformation was not a little indebted to such 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 



211 



" reformers before the Reformation " as Huss and 
Jerome. 

Rev. Michael Weisse (died 1540), a German min- 
ister in Bohemia, translated many of the Bohemian 
hymns and added some of his own. Among the 
hymns thus furnished is a very precious and popular 
funeral hymn — "Nun lasst unsden Leib begraben " (4) — 
to which Luther added one verse. The first line of 
the hymn by which he is represented in many mod- 
ern collections is, 

Christ the Lord is risen again. 

A hymn has been in common use in English congre- 
gations for a generation, and, by mistake of the 
translator, attributed to Luther. Its real author, 
however, was the Rev. Bartholomew Ringwaldt, who 
was born at Frankfort-on-the-Oder in 1530, spent 
his life as a Lutheran pastor at Langfeld, in Prussia, 
and died in 1598. That one of his hymns should be 
ascribed to Luther by so good a critic as Dr. Col Iyer 
is sufficient proof of his excellence as a writer of 
hymns. Many of his hymns were born of the suffer- 
ings which he and his people endured from "famine, 
pestilence, fire, and floods." The hymn above referred 
to is: 

Great God, what do I see and hear? 

and was suggested by that greatest of hymns the 
Dies Irse. It has marked power, though it must be 
confessed that the meter of the English version is 
not well suited to the dignity and solemnity of the 
theme. 

Contemporary with Ringwaldt was the Rev. Mar- 



212 



STUDIES IX HYMNOLOGY. 



tin Boehme (Behemb) (1537-1621), author of the 
very beautiful and comprehensive hymn which Miss 
Winkworth has translated. "Lord Jesus Christ, my 
life, my light." (5) 

Rev. George Weiszel (1590-1635), the author of 
the hymn translated by Miss Winkworth, " Lift up 
your heads, ye mighty gates," was born at Domnau, 
in Prussia, and spent the last years of his life as pastor 
at Koenigsberg. The hymn above mentioned exhib- 
its rare felicity in lyric expression, and we are well 
prepared to believe that his influence may be traced 
in the more numerous hymns of his junior contem- 
porary in Koenigsberg, Professor Simon Bach (died 
1658), who composed one hundred and fifty hymns and 
religious poems. In the place cited above the hymn 
is in long meter, and in this regard gives no correct 
idea of the original as reflected in Miss AYinkworth's 
version. To show the true form of the hymn, we 
transcribe one stanza : 

"Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates; 
Behold, the King of Glory waits! 
The King of kings is drawing near, 
The Savior of the world is here ; 
Life and salvation doth he bring, 
Wherefore rejoice and gladly sing 
Praise, my God, to thee ! 
Creator, wise is thy decree. 

What Luther was among the singers of the Refor- 
mation era such was Paul Gerhardt (1606-1670) in 
the period of the Thirty Years' War. Indeed, as a 
writer of hymns he decidedly outranks his great 
master and leader. Luther is represented in the 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 213 



world of song by thirty-seven hymns. But very few 
of these are now used, especially outside of Germany. 
Gerhardt is represented by one hundred and twenty- 
three hymns, some of which are among the most spir- 
itual and most ecumenical of modern hymns. Some 
of the choicest hymns of John Wesley are transla- 
tions from this older master, who, in a higher sense 
than Wesley, " learned by suffering what he taught 
in song." Among the hymns in common use are : 

sacred head now wounded. 
Extended on a cursed tree. 
Here I can firmly rest. 
Jesus, thy boundless love to me. 
Commit thou all thy griefs. 
Give to the winds thy fears. 

The last two are very widely known, being parts 
of the same hymn in the version of John Wesley. 
The original was born of suffering. Gerhardt had 
come from his native Saxony to be pastor of a church 
in the city of Berlin. He had held this position ten 
years, when, on account of conflict with the elector 
in refusing to sign a pledge wholly to abstain from 
attacking the Reformed doctrines, he was ordered to 
quit the country. With his wife and little children, 
he set out on foot to return to his native home. The 
journey was long and toilsome, and, in the midst of 
it, having stopped one night at a humble village inn, 
his wife's heroism completely gave way, and she 
broke down in sobs and tears. Sternly crushing 
down the " climbing sorrow" in his own breast, Ger- 



214 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



hardt spoke only words of cheer and confidence, re- 
minding his wife of God's faithful promise : " Trust 
in the Lord. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and 
he shall direct thy paths." And then, in this dark 
hour of destitution and seeming friendlessness, with 
his overburdened wife and helpless children pressing 
upon his heart, he retired to an arbor in the garden 
and composed this precious hymn, which has brought 
strength and comfort to so many fainting souls : (6) 

" Who points the clouds their course, 
Whom winds and seas obey, 
He shall direct thy wandering feet, 
He shall prepare thy way. 



Through waves and clouds and storms 

He gently clears thy way; 
Wait thou his time, so shall this night 

Soon end in joyous day." 

The sober second thought of the elector, and the 
interest of his noble wife in behalf of the banished 
minister, resulted in his recall ; but, fearing that even 
his silence had been construed into a promise to 
change the character of his preaching, he was led to 
make a new declaration of his views, which resulted 
in his permanent banishment from Berlin. Subse- 
quently he was made Archbishop of Luebben, where 
he spent the last seven years of his life. But they 
were emphatically years of sadness; for his wife was 
dead, his only child was repeatedly brought to death's 
door, and he himself toiled on in the midst of con- 
stantly increasing infirmities. His refuge and re- 
freshment was his gift of song, and many of his 
beautiful hymns were written here. The popular 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 215 



German hymn, " Wake up, my heart, and sing," was 
written after he had passed a night of anguish on the 
altar-steps of the church at Luebben. 

Gerhardt has been called " the prince of German 
hymn-writers." His hymns have penetrated all ranks 
of society, and into the company of all classes of 
worshipers, and are eminently songs of the heart. 
The mother of the eminent German poet, Schiller, 
taught them to her child, and some of them continued 
to be favorites with him during his life. Doubtless 
these hymns must be recognized as one factor, and it 
may be a very important factor, in the education of 
him who has been pronounced, next to Goethe, the 
greatest poet of Germany. 

The excellent hymn-version of the Creed — 

We all believe in one true God- 
one of the most perfect compositions of the kind ever 
written, and specially suited for use on sacramental 
occasions and fellowship and covenant meetings, was 
written by Rev. Tobiah Clausnitzer (1619-1684.) 
He was educated at Leipsic, was sometime chaplain 
of the Swedish forces during the " Thirty Years' 
War," and was finally settled as pastor in the Pa- 
latinate. 

Of the two Langes, who are represented in the 
hymnology of this period, Ernest (1650-1727) was a 
layman, and held the civil office of burgomaster, or 
chief magistrate, of his native town Dantzic. In 
1710 the town was visited by pestilence, but so 
marked was the interposition of God in their behalf, 
that he was constrained to give expression to his grat- 



216 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



itude, and several of his hymns were written for this 
purpose. Two of his hymns were translated by John 
Wesley, and are in common use : 

God, thou bottomless abyss. 

Thine, Lord, is wisdom, thine alone. 

Joachim Lange (1670-1744) was theological pro- 
fessor at Halle, and one of the earliest representatives 
of the Pietistic School in hymnology. He enjoyed 
the personal friendship of Francke, celebrated both 
as a philanthropist and writer of hymns. The hymns 
of the Hallean Pietists are not so much hymns for 
the people and for public worship, as for the individ- 
ual soul and for the closet. They abound in the 
richest views of Christian experience and life. The 
best-known hymn of Lange was translated by John 
Wesley, and is of very high merit : 

God, what offering shall I give ? 

In the same year with Joachim Lange was born 
Kev. J. Joseph Winkler (1670-1722), who was for 
many years pastor of the cathedral of Magdeburg. 
His hymns belong to this same Pietistic School. The 
two which are in universal use, and are among the 
most solemn and searching among those specially 
suited for ministers, are : 

Shall I, for fear of feeble man ? 

Savior of men, thy searching eye. 

Rev. Gottfried Arnold (1666-1714) wrote one 
hundred and thirty hymns, very few of which, how- 
ever, are known outside of Germany. He was a man 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 217 



of marked and positive character, and his sense of 
fidelity to God not unfrequently brought him into 
collision with men. He was a warmly attached friend 
of the eminent Spener, to whose influence he at- 
tributed his own quickening into spiritual life. His 
hymn — 

Well for him who, all things losing — 

is one of the finest expressions of Christian duty and 
Christian privilege in the whole range of hymnology. 

Few hymn-writers of the eighteenth century stand 
so eminent as scholar, preacher, and poet, as Johann 
Andreas Rothe (1688-1758). For many years he was 
intimately associated with the famous Count Zinzen- 
dorf, and pastor at the scarcely less celebrated Hern- 
hutt. He wrote a learned work on the Hebrew Bible. 
To his power as a preacher Count Zinzendorf bears 
most emphatic testimony: "The talents of Luther, 
Sp'ener, Francke, and Schwedler, were united in him." 
Some of the count's hymns were dedicated to him, 
and he dedicated to the count his own best-known 
hymn — 

Now I have found the ground wherein. 

This hymn is specially dear to Methodists, not only 
because of its superior merit, but also because of the 
wealth of associations which cluster about it. It rep- 
resents the Moravians, who, under God, were instru- 
mental in bringing the Wesleys into spiritual life and 
liberty. It was translated by John Wesley, whose 
best work in hymnology consisted in bringing the 
precious spiritual hymns of the Germans into the 
English language, thus making them accessible to the 

15 



218 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



multitudes, of which he became the spiritual leader. 
Almost the last words of Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley, 
were two lines from the second verse of this hymn : 

" While Jesu's blood, through earth and skies, 
Mercy — free, boundless mercy — cries." 

Few hymns in any language are so full of devout 
and tender expression as those of Benjamin Schmolke 
(1672-1737). His father was a clergyman. Benev- 
olent friends assisted him to enter upon his studies in 
the University of Leipsic, but he was soon able to do 
something toward defraying his own expenses by pub- 
lishing some of his earlier poems. The whole number 
of hymns written by him was more than one thou- 
sand. As Hist said of himself, so might Schmolke 
say : " The dear cross has pressed many songs out of 
me." He was the subject of severe and extraordinary 
personal afflictions. A destructive conflagration, which 
destroyed half the town in which he lived, involving 
the people in great suffering, the loss of two of his 
children by death, his own hopeless invalidism by 
paralysis, and finally his total blindness from the 
same cause, were the dark background with which 
contrasts the radiant glory of such words of resigna- 
tion and trust as — 

"My Jesus, as thou wilt! 

may thy will be mine ! 
Into thy hand of love 

1 would my all resign. 
Through sorrow, or through joy, 

Conduct me as thine own, 
And help me still to say, 
My Lord, thy will be done." 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 219 



The best-known hymns of Schmolke are: 

Welcome, thou victor in the strife. 

My Jesus, as thou wilt. 

Johann A. Scheffler — called also Angelas Silesius — 
(1624-1677) was a friend of the famous mystic, Jacob 
Boehm. He was at first a Protestant, but later a 
Catholic priest, and a zealous controversialist. Two 
of his hymns were translated by John Wesley, 
namely : 

God, of good the unfathomed sea. 

1 thank thee, Uncreated Sun.^ 

The fourth verse of this latter hymn was repeated by 
Richard Cobden in his dying hour: 

"Thee will I love, my joy, my crown; 

Thee will I love, my Lord, my God ; 
Thee will I love, beneath thy frown 

Or smile, thy scepter or thy rod. 
What though my flesh and heart decay; 
Thee shall I love in endless day." 

The most churchly of the poets of the older Pie- 
tistic School was the Rev. Johann J. Rambach 
(1693-1735), professor at Giessen. He wrote the 
hymn : 

I am baptized into thy name. 

Wolfgang Christopher Dessler (1660-1722) was 
head-master of the grammar school at Nuremberg, 
and a Pietist. The following hymns are his : 

Into thy gracious hands I fall. 

O Friend of souls, how blest the time. 



220 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



The version of the first of these was made by John 
Wesley. The second, though less known, has yet 
some marked felicities of expression : 

"When from my weariness I climb 
Into thy tender breast." 

" And when life's fiercest storms are sent 
Upon life's wildest sea, 
My little bark is confident, 
Because it holdeth thee." 

In the same class of Hallean Pietists is Rev. 
Christian Friedrich Richter (1676-1711), who was 
physician to Francke's celebrated orphan-house in 
Halle, and author of thirty-three excellent hymns. 
The following are John Wesley's versions of two of 
them : 

My soul before thee prostrate lies. 
Thou Lamb of God, thou Prince of Peace. 

The great poet in the Mystical School in German 
hymnology was Gerhard Tersteegen (1697-1761). 
From Catherine Winkworth's " Christian Singers of 
Germany" w r e condense the following account of this 
most remarkable and interesting man. He was the 
son of a respectable tradesman, and after such educa- 
tion as he could get at the grammar-school of his 
native place, was apprenticed to his elder brother, a 
shopkeeper at Muelheim. Here, under the influence 
of a tradesman, he w r as converted, and was led to 
devote himself to the service of God. As his days 
were occupied, he used sometimes to pass whole 
nights in prayer and fasting. That he might have 
more freedom for spiritual exercises, he left his 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 221 



brother, and took up the occupation of weaving silk 
ribbons, living for some years entirely alone in a 
cottage, except that in the day-time he had the com- 
pany of the little girl who wound his silk for him. 
His relations — who seem to have been a thriving and 
money-getting set of people — were so ashamed of this 
poor and peculiar member of the family that they re- 
fused even to hear his name mentioned, and when he 
was sick he suffered great privations for want of 
care. 

His spiritual experiences were at first marked by 
violent contrasts. Upon the peace and comfort of his 
early Christian life a season of darkness supervened, 
and for five years he was the subject of extreme 
and painful doubts. From this fearful dungeon in 
"Doubting Castle" he was suddenly and gloriously 
delivered, and in his gratitude wrote with his own 
blood a new covenant of self-dedication. He began 
at once to devote himself to the spiritual welfare cf 
those about him. Soon he found himself entirely oc- 
cupied with a sort of unofficial ministry, which speed- 
ily took permanent form, and became his life-work. 
Peremptorily declining all pecuniary assistance, he 
opened a dispensary for his support, making it a 
means of ministering to the souls as well as the bodies 
of men. So famous did he become in this double 
ministry that people came to him from other lands — 
England, Holland, Sweden, and Switzerland — so that 
he found his strength and resources taxed to their 
utmost. But amid it all he maintained an unvary- 
ing humility, affectionateness, devoutness, and sim- 
plicity. 



222 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



From such a life none but the most spiritual 
hymns could come, and Tersteegen's are highly and 
justly prized. (8) Among them are : 

Lo! God is here! Let us adore. 

God calling yet! Shall I not hear? 

Thou hidden love of God, whose height. 

O Thou to whose all-searching sight. 

Though all the world my choice deride. 

Three of the above, like so many others of the 
choicest and most spiritual German hymns of the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are versions by 
John Wesley. 

One of the most saintly of the many saints of Prot- 
estantism was John Frederick Oberlin (1740-1826). 
Though the sphere of his personal labors was exceed- 
ingly restricted, the sphere of his influence is world- 
wide. He stands before us as a notable illustration 
of what a Christian pastor, who devotes himself un- 
qualifiedly to his work in the spirit of the Master, 
may do. By his wonderful influence the words of 
Isaiah were more than fulfilled — " The desert shall 
rejoice and blossom as the rose" — for that rugged and 
sterile mountainous parish of Steinthal, with its igno- 
rant, degraded, and unprosperous inhabitants, became 
a scene of thrift, purity, and prosperity. One morn- 
ing, after preaching from the text, "He shall see of 
the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied," he made 
an earnest appeal to his hearers to devote themselves 
entirely to God, and then read a hymn, in which he 
asked the whole congregation to join him. It was this : 
Lord, thy heavenly grace impart. 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 223 



Two famous Moravians, both bishops, made very 
material contributions to the hymnology of this pe- 
riod — Count Zinzendorf and Bishop Spangenberg. 
The history of Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf (1700- 
1 760) is too well known to require any sketch of it 
here. In an eminent sense he stands in church his- 
tory and in hymnology as a representative Moravian, 
having renounced his civil honors and cares to devote 
himself to the religious work of the Moravian Breth- 
ren. The hymns (9) by which he is best known are 
all in versions made by John Wesley : 

Eternal depth of love divine. 

Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. 

I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God. 

The last of these is very familiar and very precious 
to all who look to Wesley as their spiritual father. 
The second was written on the island of Saint Eusta- 
tius on his return from visiting the Moravian mis- 
sionaries in the West Indies. 

Bishop Aug. Gottlieb Spangenberg (1704-1792) 
is second only to Count Zinzendorf himself in the 
history of the Moravian church, and was greatly his 
superior in theological culture. Educated at the Uni- 
versity of Jena w T hen the distinguished Buddaeus was 
professor in that institution, he gave such brilliant 
promise as to be himself employed as a lecturer in 
the university at the early age of twenty-two, which 
place he held for six years. In 1735 he became an 
assistant of Zinzendorf at Herrnhut, and acted as a 
kind of missionary bishop to the Moravian churches 
in England, the West Indies, and North America. 



224 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



In Georgia he came in contact with John Wesley, 
who had gone out with Oglethorpe as a missionary to 
the Aborigines. The meeting was a most memo- 
rable one for Wesley, and was one important means 
of bringing him to a realizing sense of his great want. 
Wesley had sought an interview with Spangenburg 
to consult with him as to the best plans of mission- 
ary work. 

" My brother/' said the Moravian, " I must first 
ask you one or two questions. Have you the witness 
within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear wit- 
ness with your spirit that you are a child of God?" 

Wesley was surprised, and knew not what to an- 
swer. Spangenberg perceived his embarrassment and 
asked: "Do you know Jesus Christ?" Wesley re- 
plied : " I know he is the Savior of the world." 
"True," rejoined the Moravian; "but do you know 
he has saved you?" "I hope he has died to save 
me." Spangenberg only added : " Do you know 
yourself?" " I do," responded Wesley ; " but," he 
writes, "I fear they were vain words." 

This good bishop is represented in English hym- 
nology by John Wesley's version of one of his very 
choicest hymns, such as, indeed, a bishop might write : 
High on his everlasting throne. 

Other German writers whose hymns are frequently 
met with in the collections are Matthias Claudius 
(1740-1815), author of that best of harvest hymns, 
We plow the fields and scatter/ 10 ) 

and Rev. Carl Johann P. Spitta (1801-1859) one of 
the many modern Christian poets in Germany, whose 



HYMNS FROM GERMAN AUTHORS. 225 



hymns are characterized by depth, inwardness, fresh- 
ness, and catholicity. He wrote : 

I know no life divided. 

The precious seed of weeping.t 11 ) 

About three-quarters of a century ago, in the 
midst of a severe naval battle, the deck of the ship 
commanded by Captain James Haldane, was fairly 
swept clean by the broadside of the enemy. He or- 
dered up another company from below, to take the 
place of the, dead. As they came upon the deck, 
slippery with blood and strewn w T ith mangled corses, 
a sudden and irresistible panic seized them. The 
captain, swearing a horrid oath, wished them to hell. 
A pious old marine stepped up to him, and, respect- 
fully touching his cap, said : " Captain, I believe 
God hears prayer, and if he were to hear yours what 
would become of us?" These w T ords, spoken in that 
terrible hour, were as a nail fastened in a sure place, 
and as a result this profane captain became a Chris- 
tian and a minister of the gospel. Through his in- 
strumentality his brother Robert was also led to 
Christ, and he, in turn, was selected by Providence 
as a minister of life to that 6*ld city of Geneva, where 
the poison of French infidelity and German ration- 
alism had well-nigh destroyed the life of the church 
of the Reformation. Mr. Haldane's labors were 
specially directed to the students of the theological 
seminary, and among the fruits of them were such 
men as Merle D'Aubigne, Felix Xeff, Adolphe 
Monod, and others of similar distinction. Among 
the fruits of that revival must also be mentioned 



226 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Csesar Henri Abraham Malan (1787-1864), who was 
at that time a young pastor in the city. He -had 
previously been awakened to a sense of his spiritual 
need by the influence of the Rev. Dr. Mason, of New 
York, who had visited Geneva. It was Mr. Haldane, 
however, who led him to the knowledge of the Savior. 
He began at once to preach the doctrines of grace 
with an earnestness and plainness such as was not 
wont to be seen in that old city, so rich in historic 
memories, but now fallen into the deadness and for- 
malities of rationalism. , 

A special interest attaches to the memory of Dr. 
Malan as the instrument, under God, of leading the 
soul of Charlotte Elliott into life and liberty, and so 
of giving to the world one of the very best hymns 
which this century has produced: " Just as I am." 
He was the author of the French original of Dr. 
Bethune's hymn, 

It is not death to die/ 12 ) 

Another version of this same hymn, not, however, 
from the French original, but from an excellent Ger- 
man version, has been made by Professor R. B. Dunn, 
of Brown University. It commences : 

No, no, it is not dying/ 13 ' 

To Dr. Malan we are also indebted for several excel- 
lent church tunes, such as Rosefield, Hendon, and 
Welton. He was a man of marked individuality of 
character; and, by this precious funeral hymn and 
these tunes, and especially his noble example of 
Christian courage and fidelity, he has laid the church 
under lasting obligations to his memory. 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 227 



CHAPTER VI. 

EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 

IN many important particulars English hymns are 
distinguished from those of every other language. 
Many of them are translations of the best and most 
famous hymns of other tongues. Nearly all the great 
hymns of the medieval time are represented by En- 
glish versions. This is true, also, of the most cher- 
ished and most spiritual of the French and German 
hymns. The great body of English hymns have been 
produced in the modern period of church history, 
and hence reflect the most recent phases of church 
life and work. As among English-speaking peoples 
evangelical movements have taken a greater variety 
of form, and have incorporated more various methods 
than have been employed elsewhere, so here the hymn 
has been appropriated to a greater variety of uses. 
In addition to the ordinary demands of public 
worship and the necessities of the individual life, 
which, though they do not essentially change, are yet 
all the time becoming more perfectly interpreted and 
more adequately expressed, there are many institu- 
tions which have been called into existence by the 
life of the church in this period. The modern prayer- 
meeting, revival meetings, conferences, conventions, 
synods, Sabbath-schools, and reform movements, have 



228 



STUDIES IX HYMNOLOGY. 



all created a demand for a special type of religious 
service. Hence, in no other language is there so great 
a variety of hymns : in no other has the hymn been 
more perverted and degraded from its proper char- 
acter: and in no other is the vast and varied wealth 
of hymnology more fully exhibited. 

The oldest English hymn now in common use — 
"The Lord descended from above" 1 — is a transla- 
tion of some verses of the Eighteenth Psalm, made 
by Thomas Sternhold, who died in 1549. He was 
•"Groom of the Robes" to Henry VIII and Edward 
VI. He made a metrical version of the first fifty-one 
Psalms, which, with versions of the remainder made 
by Johu Hopkins, were attached to the Book of 
Common Prayer. As to the character of these men. 
as shown by this work, doubtless the judgmeut of 
quaint old Thomas Fuller will be generally approved : 
" They were men whose piety was better than their 
poetry : and they had drunk more of Jordan than of 
Helicon." And yet the psalm above cited fully vin- 
dicates, by its own intrinsic excellence, the taste and 
judgment of those who have so long kept it in its 
seat of honor. 

With this should be associated that translation of 
the One Hundredth Psalm made by William Kethe : 

All people that on earth do dwell.- 2 

Of its author we know almost nothing, not even the 
dates of his birth and death. He was a clergyman, 
was sometime a chaplain in the army, and shared the 
exile of Knox, in Geneva, in 155-5. The psalm was 
first published in 1561, and is not only one of the 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 



229 



oldest, but also one of the most ecumenical of En- 
glish hymns. It was used at the opening of the recent 
Pan-Presbyterian Council in Scotland (1877,) and also 
was the opening hymn of the Church Congress of 
Episcopalians in Boston, in 1876. The clearness and 
archaic simplicity of the version atone for its rugged- 
ness; and when we call to mind the grand and heroic 
history of these Scottish Dissenters, of which these 
old psalms are in a special sense monumental, we can 
well understand why it should have a place of high 
honor in our hymnals. 

Among these psalms, used by those Scottish sects 
who are opposed to the use of ordinary hymns, are 
not a few which are acceptable to all who "profess 
and call themselves Christians " such for instance as : 

God, to us show mercy. 

The Lord's my shepherd; I'll not want. 3 

The associations connected with this last are pecul- 
iarly interesting. It was a favorite channel through 
which the sturdy Scotch people of the olden time 
poured out their souls to God in assured and grateful 
confidence. It was the language of individual trust, 
it beautifully befitted the worship of the home, and 
yet was equally in place in the great congregation. 
It was linked with the earliest memories of childhood, 
and it was the "strong staff and the beautiful rod" 
of the aged pilgrim. In Professor Wilson's touching 
little story of Moss Side, when Gilbert Ainslie's little 
Margaret was hovering between life and death, in the 
delirium of her fever, she kept muttering words which 
showed that she thought herself " herding her sheep 



230 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



in the green, silent pastures, and sitting wrapped in 
her plaid upon the lawn and sunny-side of Birk- 
Knowe." At last, when she was almost exhausted, 
and there was " too little breath in her heart to frame 
a tune," with her blue eyes shut and. her lips almost 
still, she breathed out these lines of sweet and restful 
confidence : 

"The Lord's ray Shepherd; I'll not want; 
He makes me down to lie 
In pastures green ; he leadeth me 
The quiet waters by." 

The name of Bishop John Cosin (1594-1672) is 
deserving of most honorable mention, because of his 
translation of the "Veni, Creator Spiritus" — "Come, 
Holy Ghost, our souls inspire." (4) Few men of his 
time held a greater variety of distinguished positions, 
or received more flattering testimonials of personal 
popularity and influence. Though made to feel the 
virulent opposition of his Puritan enemies, and to 
suffer from their unjust charges of leaning toward 
popery, yet he stands in the history of the church 
fully vindicated, and a noble example of a man true 
to the church, and true also to his own convictions. 
He expended his emoluments, and the profits arising 
from the sale of his works, liberally for the cause of 
learning and religion, founding no less than eight 
scholarships at Cambridge. His one hymn has a 
higher place of honor than any other in our language, 
having for two centuries and a half maintained its 
place in the service for the ordination of elders. It 
is a most satisfactory instance of "poetic justice," in 
a sense much fuller and more perfect than that in 



» 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 231 

which the phrase is ordinarily used, that the hymn of 
Gregory, who taught Britain her first lesson in prac- 
tical Christianity, should be the only one which has 
been given a place in the ritual of the English church. 

Another bishop, whose hymns have come to almost 
equal honor, and in some regards even superior, is 
Thomas Ken (1637-1711). Early left an orphan — 
his mother dying when he was but five and his father 
when he was fourteen — he was brought up by his 
half-sister, the wife of the celebrated Isaac Walton. 
He was educated at Oxford ; was first rector of Bright- 
stone, in the Isle of Wight, and afterwards bishop of 
Bath and Wells. King Charles used to say : " I must 
go and hear Ken — he will tell me of my faults." He 
was one of the seven bishops imprisoned and brought 
to trial for resisting the tyranny of James II. His 
most enduring monument is his "Morning and Even- 
ing Hymns." Says one writer: "Had he endowed 
three hospitals he would have been less a benefactor 
to posterity." His grand old Doxology in long meter 
is heard wherever the English language is spoken. 
It is almost as catholic as the English Bible itself. 
The following hymns are his: 

Glory to thee, my God, this night. 
Awake, my soul, and with the sun. 
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. (1 ) 

The three great names in modern literature are 
Dante, Shakspeare, and Milton. But of the works 
of these three illustrious men, those of Milton stand 
forth as most evidently and unqualifiedly the product 
of a Christian culture. It is, therefore, a matter of 



7 



232 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 

4 

special satisfaction to recognize in the hyrnnology of the 
English church the name of John Milton (1608-1704). 
Some of his best-known hymns are : 

Let us with a gladsome mind ; 

How lovely are thy dwellings, Lord ; 

The Lord will come, and not be slow ; 

which will be recognized as versions of the 136th, 
the 84th, and selected verses of the 82d, 85th, and 
86th Psalms. 

By the side of his should be placed the scarcely 
less illustrious name of Joseph Addison (1672-1719). 
He was the son of the dean of Lichfield, was edu- 
cated at Oxford University, and married to the dow- 
ager countess of Warwick. As a writer of English 
prose he had no equal in his own time, and few equals 
in any time. " Whoever wishes to attain an English 
style," says Dr. Johnson, "familiar but not coarse, 
and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days 
and nights to the volumes of Addison." And though 
he has been described as " so great in prose, so little 
in poetry," yet we have only to examine the little 
poetry by which he is represented in the world of 
letters, to be convinced how merciless and unjust this 
criticism is. Few finer passages can be quoted from 
any writer of Addison's time than the closing lines 
of Cato's Soliloquy : 

" The stars shall fade away ; the sun himself 
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years ; 
But thou shalt nourish in immortal youth, 
Unhurt amid the war of elements, 
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds." 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 233 



He is represented by such hymns as the following, 
each of which is a real gem of its kind: 

The spacious firmament on high. 
When all thy mercies, O my God. 
The Lord my pasture shall prepare. 
When rising from the bed of death. 
How are thy servants blest, O Lord/ 5 ) 

Rev. Richard Baxter (1615-1 691), well known as 
the author of "The Saints' Rest/' was an eminent 
Non-conformist minister. He was born at Rowton, 
Shropshire; became pastor of the parish of Kidder- 
minster, where he was greatly popular and useful; 
afterward chaplain of a regiment among the Parlia- 
mentary forces, during which time he wrote his 
" Saints' Rest;" returned to Kidderminster, but was 
soon ejected by the Act of Uniformity ; went to reside 
in London, where he occupied himself in preaching 
and writing, until he was arrested on a charge of se- 
dition, and brought before the infamous Jeffreys, by 
whom hs was adjudged to pay a heavy fine, and 
thrown into prison. His life was filled with activity 
and usefulness, and he enjoyed the friendship of some 
of the best men of his time — such as Matthew Henry, 
and others. Though he attained to a good old age, 
his whole life was one constant and severe struggle 
with disease; and the hymns by which he is known 
may well be added to the long list of those which 
have come up "out of the depths." In his final ill- 
ness he was accustomed to reply to those who called 

to inquire after him, "Almost well," and in his death- 

16 



234 STUDIES IN HYMNOIOGY. 



hour he became "entirely well." The process of 
dying was to him, as to all God's saints, the process 
of becoming immortal. His best-known hymn is : 

Lord, it belongs not to my care/ 6 ) 

How reasonable and consoling the first couplet in the 
third verse — 

" Christ leads me through no darker rooms 
Than he went through before!" 

And how satisfying the final lines of the hymn — 

" But 't is enough that Christ knows all, 
And I shall be with him!" 

Though the name of Nahum Tate (16511-1715) is 
eminent in English hymnology, yet the associations 
connected with it are not all grateful. His active life 
commenced as clergyman of a country parish in Suf- 
folk, from which he subsequently removed to London. 
But intemperance and improvidence cast a blight 
over his life and a shadow upon his memory. In 
connection with Nicholas Brady, he prepared the met- 
rical version of the Psalms, which is now printed in 
the Book of Common Prayer in place of the older 
one of Sternhold and Hopkins, which version Mont- 
gomery justly characterizes as being " nearly as inani- 
mate as the former, though a little more refined." 
Nicholas Brady (1659-17^26), his associate in this 
work, studied at Christ College, Oxford, and gradu- 
ated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was afterward 
chaplain to a bishop and prebend to the Cathedral 
of Cork, and later in life taught a school in Rich- 
mond, Surrey. 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 235 



The Psalter of Tate and Brady was first published 
in 1696, with tunes in 1698, and with a supplement 
of hymns in 1703. From this work several hymns 
in common use have been taken, though it is impos- 
sible to determine which were written by Tate and 
which by Brady. Among them are the following: 

O render thanks to God above. 

O God, we praise thee, and confess. 

"While shepherds watched their flocks by night. 

As pants the hart for cooliDg streams. 

Lord, our fathers oft have told. 

A very choice evening hymn has come down to 
us from this seventeenth century, written by John F. 
Herzog (1649-1699): 

In mercy, Lord, remember me. 

One of the really distinguished philosophers of 
England's early time was Henry More (died 1687), one 
of the first Fellows of the Royal Society; friend of 
the eminent Cudworth ; defender of the philosophical 
system of Descartes, with whom he maintained a 
personal correspondence; and opponent of the famous 
Thomas Hobbes, who died eight years before him. 
He was educated at Eton and Cambridge, but re- 
fused the mastership in his college, as also all church 
preferment, and devoted himself with much enthu- 
siasm to the study of philosophy. He was the author 
of the hymn — 

On all the earth thy Spirit shower/ 7 ) 



236 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Even at this day the thoughtful student can hardly 
take into his hands a book more suggestive or more 
stimulating than Mason's " Self-Knowledge." In 
depth, solidity, clearness, and comprehensiveness it 
has few equals in our language. The young person 
who makes it the subject of constant and loving study 
is sure to be richly rewarded. John Mason, the 
hymn writer (died 1694), was grandfather of the John 
Mason who was the author of this treatise. Little is 
known of his life, save that for twenty years he was 
rector of a parish in Buckinghamshire, where he was 
very highly esteemed for his piety and his devotion 
to his flock. Baxter called him "the glory of the 
Church of England." In 1683 he published his 
" Spiritual Songs," to which were afterwards added 
"Penitential Cries," mainly from the pen of Rev. 
Thomas Shepherd. Many traces of these hymns of 
Mason are found in the later works of Watts, Pope, 
and the Wesleys. Of the one hymn of his which is 
most used, David Creamer says that it is "certainly 
one of the best specimens of devotional poetry in the 
English language." The hymn is — 

Xow from the altar of our hearts. 

One hymn from the "Penitential Cries" of 
Thomas Shepherd (1665-1739) has been preserved in 
most of our modern hymn-books, though in a form 
so much changed from the original as almost to de- 
stroy its identity. Indeed, in most books the hymn 
is credited to Mr. G. X. Allen, who made the altera- 
tions, rather than to Mr. Shepherd, the original author. 
It begins — 

Must Jesus bear the cross alone ?W 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 237 



The earliest of the considerable number of Bap- 
tists who have been eminent as English hymn-writers 
is Joseph Stennett (1663-1713), who spent his life as 
pastor of a small congregation of Seventh-day Bap- 
tists in the city of London. He was also accustomed 
to preach to other congregations on the first day of 
the week, which makes it pretty certain that his sym- 
pathy with his people was as Baptists, rather than as 
Sabbatarians. In addition to his duties as pastor, he 
also, for some years, received young men into his 
house to be trained for the ministry. He died in his 
forty-ninth year, and among his last words were : " I 
rejoice in the God of my salvation, who is my strength 
and my God/' He published two small collections 
of original hymns — " Hymns for the Lord's Supper" 
and " Hymns on the Believer's Baptism." His famil- 
iar hymn — 

Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest — 

is one of the most frequently used of our Sabbath 
hymns. 

No name appears in a Christian hymn-book with 
more grotesque effect than that of Alexander Pope 
(1688-1744). Probably few men have ever acquired 
an eminent literary reputation who have been more 
utterly incapable of appreciating an evangelical ex- 
perience. Born of Catholic parentage ; acquiring the 
smatterings of an education at Catholic schools, until, 
at the age of twelve, he entered on the perilous path 
of self-culture; with a nature deformed and diseased ; 
diminutive in stature and irritable in disposition ; with 
much of the critical but little of the creative faculty ; 
with an extraordinary facility for measured smooth- 



238 



STUDIES IN HYMNOL OGY. 



ness, but showing little consciousness of the essence 
and soul of true poetry ; having little contact with 
evangelical beliefs, and an utter stranger, so far as can 
now be told, to evangelical experiences, — it were indeed 
strange if he had written a true Christian hymn. 
Many of his poetic utterances reflect that extreme 
naturalism which amounts substantially to Deism, and 
so are at the farthest possible remove from the warmth 
and life of the Christian religion. He is represented 
in many of our collections by his " Dying Christian " — 

Vital spark of heavenly flame/ 9 ' 

It seems to have been suggested by the Emperor 
Adrian's Address to His Soul, as also by a fragment 
of Sappho. Even for the English of the poem he is, 
to some extent, indebted to an earlier rendering of 
Adrian's words by Thomas Flatman. As a specimen 
of literature it is not without interest, but it is very 
far from being a hymn. It is utterly destitute of 
warmth and devoutness, and dramatizes, as if for mere 
literary effect, the holy experiences of the dying hour. 
That it has so long been accorded a place in our 
hymn-books is an unmistakable tribute to its rare 
beauty ; but it is not to be wondered at that it is now 
very generally omitted from the latest collections. 

There is one English hymn, dating probably from 
the sixteenth century, whose history is specially inter- 
esting. It comes from an old Latin hymn, which 
Dean Trench assigns to the eighth or ninth century. 
We refer to that dearest of all our hymns on heaven — 

Jerusalem, my happy home/ 10 ) 

t 



EARLIER ENGLISH HYMNS. 



239 



In a very old book of religious songs, now kept in 
the British Museum, it stands with this title — "A 
Song, Made by F. B. P., to the Tune of Diana." It 
has been conjectured — doubtfully by most, but confi- 
dently by some — that " F. B. P." is an alias for 
Francis Baker, Priest, who was for a long time con- 
fined as a prisoner in the Tower, and so that this is 
one of the many hymns which have come up out of 
the depth of suffering and bitter wrong. A later and 
more beautiful form of this hymn — "O mother dear, 
Jerusalem " — was given to the public by David Dick- 
son, in the early part of the seventeenth century. 

The hymn, as it appears in our modern hymn- 
books, is considerably altered from the text as found 
in the book in the British Museum. It is called by 
Miller " the hymn of hymns," and certainly holds a 
very warm place in the hearts of Christian worship- 
ers in every communion. A young Scotchman, on 
his death-bed in the city of New Orleans several 
years ago, was visited by a Presbyterian minister. 
He continued to shut himself up from the good man's 
efforts to reach his heart. Somewhat discouraged, at 
last the visitor turned away, and scarcely knowing 
why, began to sing, " Jerusalem, my happy home." 
A tender chord was touched in the heart of the young 
man. With tears he exclaimed: "My dear mother 
used to sing that hymn !" The tender memories 
awakened by the hymn opened his heart to religious 
truth. He was led through penitence into peace, and 
thus was made ready for the "happy home" whither 
his mother had already preceded him. 



240 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ISAAC WATTS. 

ISAAC WATTS (1674-1748) is pronounced by 
Montgomery the "father of modern hymnody" — 
"almost the inventor of hymns in our language." 
He was son of a school-master, and deacon of an in- 
dependent church in Southampton, England, a local- 
ity which is embalmed in the imagery of some of his 
hymns. So insignificant was he in stature, after he 
had come to years of maturity, that when he oifered 
his hand to Elizabeth Singer, who had already stolen 
his heart, she gave the death-warrant to his hopes by 
replying that " much as she might love the jewel, she 
could not admire the casket/' and so missed the honor 
of becoming the wife of the most famous man of his 
generation. So precocious in intellect was he that 
almost his earliest cry was for a book ; and he actu- 
ally commenced the study of Latin at four, of Greek 
at nine, of French at ten, and of Hebrew at fourteen, 
and this intellectual activity was continued through 
a long and most fruitful life. Says Dr. Johnson: 
" Few men have left behind such purity of character 
or such monuments of laborious piety. He has pro- 
vided instruction for all ages, from those who are 
lisping their first lessons to the enlightened readers 
of Malebranche and Locke." And the judgment of 



ISAAC WATTS. 



241 



this extraordinary critic in the matter of hymns is 
sufficiently indicated by such sentences as the follow- 
ing : " It is sufficient for Watts to have done better 
than others what no one has done well." " His de- 
votional poetry is, like that of others, unsatisfactory. 
The paucity of its topics enforces perpetual repeti- 
tion, and the sanctity of the matter rejects the orna- 
ments of figurative diction." 

Dr. Watts was a man of fervent and devoted 
piety. Descended through his mother from the old 
Huguenots, the traditions and memories of their bit- 
ter wrongs must have filled his soul with a hatred of 
tryanny, and a sense of the sacredness of the rights 
which had been purchased at such fearful cost. And 
the stories his mother told him of the time when his 
father was thrown into prison for his convictions as a 
non-conformist, and how she used to go and sit, day 
after day, just outside the prison bars, holding up her 
infant to comfort his father in his bonds, must have 
deepened and intensified this feeling; so that it is no 
wonder that this mild-spirited man was so clear and 
positive in his religious convictions, and, at the same 
time, so broad in his sympathies even toward those who 
differed somewhat radically from the common faith. 

He preached his first sermon on his twenty-fourth 
birthday, and the same year was chosen assistant pas- 
tor of the Independent church, Mark Lane, London, 
and four years later became sole pastor. In this pas- 
torate he remained for almost fifty years, though for 
most of the time he had an assistant, and such was 
the feebleness of his health that some of the time, 
for years together, he was unable to preach at all. 



242 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Often after preaching he would be compelled to take 
his bed, and have his room closed in darkness and 
silence. 

In 1712 he visited the mansion of Sir Thomas 
Abney for rest and change of air, which led to his 
making it his permanent home. To a lady who once 
called to see him Watts said : " Madam, your lady- 
ship has called to see me on a very remarkable day. 
This very day, thirty years ago, I came to the house of 
my good friend Sir Thomas Abney, intending to spend 
but a single week under his friendly roof, and I have 
extended my visit to this family to the length of ex- 
actly thirty years." " Sir," said Lady Abney, " I con- 
sider it the shortest visit my family ever received." 
Here he found all the comforts of a home without 
its cares, and doubtless to this, as a ground condition, 
we owe much of the fruitfulness of his life. For 
four years after going there he was obliged to desist 
from preaching altogether ; but all his life long his 
literary activity seems to have been incessant. In ad- 
dition to his poetical and theological works, he wrote 
numerous other books and tractates — such as a work 
ou logic, which was adopted as a text-book in Cam- 
bridge University ; a treatise on astronomy, " Art of 
Reading and Writing English," " Guide to Prayer," 
" Improvement of the Mind," which at one time was 
very widely used as a text-book in the schools of this 
country, and is, beyond question, one of the best of 
his works, as it is certainly one of the best books on 
mental discipline ever written. He also projected a 
work on the " Rise and Progress of Religion in the 
Soul," which he was finally obliged to turn over to 



ISAAC WATTS. 



243 



his friend Dr. Doddridge to execute, and he did it 
so excellently that it has been pronounced by the 
North British Review the most useful book of the 
eighteenth century. 

Watts was eminently catholic in his spirit. In 
this regard his own spirit and character were truth- 
fully prophetic of the grand and universal mission 
which his hymns have fulfilled. The memory of the 
dark and cruel wrongs which his ancestors, and even 
his own parents, had suffered from religious intoler- 
ance, seems to have wrought in his mind something 
of the spirit which Coleridge so broadly expresses: 
" I will be tolerant of everything else but every 
other man's intolerance." This spirit of Christian 
charity and fellowship was beautifully illustrated at 
his funeral. Having lingered on to a good old age, 
" waiting God's leave to die," when at last the sum- 
mons did come, be was, at his own request, carried to 
his burial by ministers chosen from three different de- 
nominations. And it was fitting that in 1861 the 
various Christian denominations in England should 
bring their offerings in common for the erection of a 
memorial monument in his native town of South- 
ampton. The monument itself is a fitting expression 
of gratitude on the part of those who felt themselves 
laid under a debt of obligation to his memory by his 
hymns, which have come into such universal use. It 
stands in a public square, and consists of a base eight 
and a half feet square, surmounted by a pedestal of 
polished gray Aberdeen granite, with three bas-re- 
liefs of marble in the sides, upon which stands a 
statue of pure white Sicilian marble, the whole rising 



244 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



to the height of nineteen feet. One of the bas-reliefs 
represents a teacher in the midst of a group of chil- 
dren, and bears this motto : 

' ; He gave to lisping infancy its earliest and purest lessons." 

Another represents the poet himself, and, underneath, 
this line from his own pen : 

"To fceaven I lift my waiting eyes." 

The remaining one represents the poet surrounded by 
globe, telescope, and hour-glass, with this sentence 
from Dr. Johnson : 

"He taught the art of reasoning and the science of the stars." 
The inscription on the tablet is as follows: 

%. m. mi. 

ERECTED BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS 

IN MEMORY OF ISAAC WATTS, D. D., 

A NATIVE OF SOUTHAMPTON. 
BORN 1674; DIED 1748. 
AN EXAMPLE OF THE TALENTS OF A LARGE AND LIBERAL MIND, 
WHOLLY DEVOTED TO THE PROMOTION OF PIETY, 
VIRTUE, AND LITERATURE. 
A NAME HONORED FOR HIS ENGLISH HYMNS WHEREVER THE ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE EXTENDS. 
ESPECIALLY THE FRIEND OF CHILDREN AND OF YOUTH, FOR WHOSE 
BEST WELFARE HE LABORED WELL AND WISELY, 
WITHOUT THOUGHT OF FAME OR GAIN. 

" From all that dwell below the skies, 
Let the Creator's praise arise ; 
Let the Redeemer's name be sung 
Through every land, by every tongue." 

WATTS. 

Only as a writer of hymns is the fame of Dr. 
Watts pre-eminent. When, at the age of eighteen, 
on a certain Sabbath, he was complaining to one of 
his fellow-worshipers at the Independent chapel where 
his father was deacon, of the character of the hymns 



ISAAC WATTS. 



245 



sung there, the reply was, " Give us better, young 
man." He accepted the challenge, and the church 
was invited to close the evening service with a new 
hymn commencing : 

" Behold the glories of the Lamb 
Before his Father's throne ; 
Prepare new honors for his name, 
And songs before unknown — 

a hymn which is retained in many of our hymn- 
books, and is still sung with reverence and delight. 
Such was the beginning of the most illustrious career 
as a hymn-writer which, with not more than a single 
exception, it has ever been given to mortal to fulfill. 
The author of that first hymn has made more mate- 
rial contributions to the apparatus of Christian wor- 
ship in the English tongue than any other man, and 
his hymns are familiar and precious wherever that 
language is spoken. Less prolific and less versatile 
than some others, especially than Charles Wesley, 
with whom he is most frequently compared, with less 
of poetic genius and less of spiritual fervor and joy, 
his hymns are so devout, so Scriptural, so catholic, 
and so simple, and, in the main, so correct in diction 
and in sentiment, that they meet a general want more 
perfectly than any other. Though Wesley wrote 
seven or eight thousand hymns, and Watts only six 
hundred and ninety-seven, yet it is probable that 
more of Watts's hymns are in common use than of 
Wesley's. A recent writer says: " Judging from 
the results of an examination of seven hundred and 
fifty hymn-books, it is safe to assign to Watts the au- 
thorship of two-fifths of the hymns which are used 



246 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



in public worship in the English-speaking world." 
In the " Hymns and Songs of Praise/' one of the 
best and most broadly representative of the hymn- 
books used by the Calvinistic churches of this coun- 
try, Watts is represented by one hundred and ninety- 
one hymns and Charles Wesley by ninety-nine ; while 
in the Methodist Hymnal, Watts has but seventy-eight 
and Wesley three hundred and seven. The facts as 
to actual use, however, may be considerably different 
from what would be indicated by these figures; and 
we need but to glance over the list of Watts's lead- 
ing hymns to be convinced that they constitute a 
very large proportion of the staple hymns for public 
religious service. Among the most eminent of these 
are such as the following : (1) 

Alas ! and did my Savior bleed. 
Am I a soldier of the cross ? 
Before Jehovah's awful throne. 
Blest are the sons of peace. 
Come sound his praise abroad. 
Come, let us join our cheerful songs. 
Come, ye that love the Lord. 
Father, how wide thy glory shines. 
From all that dwell below the skies. 
Give me the wings of faith to rise. 
He dies ! the friend of sinners dies. 
How vain are all things here below. 
How beauteous are their feet. 



ISAAC WATTS. 247 

I'll praise my Maker while I 've breath. 
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun. 
Let every tongue thy goodness speak. 
My God, the spring of all my joys ! 
God, our help in ages past. 
The heavens declare thy glory, Lord. 
There is a land of pure delight. 
Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb. 
When I can read my title clear. 
When I survey the wondrous cross. 
Why do we mourn for dying friends ? 
Why should we start and fear to die? 

Some of these hymns are, in a special sense, auto- 
biographic. Nearly all of them bear, in a marked 
degree, the stamp of the poet's personal experience. 
It has been alleged that the hymn, 

How vain are all things here below, 

was written on the occasion of the rejection of his 
offer of marriage by Elizabeth Singer, to which allu- 
sion has already been made. The bitterness of his 
disappointment and its lesson are reflected in such 
lines as these : 

"The fondness of a creature's love, 
How strong it strikes the sense ; 
Thither our warm affections move, 
Nor can we call them hence. 

Dear Savior, let thy beauties be 

My soul's eternal food, 
And grace command my heart away 

From all created good." 



248 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOG V. 

To the character of the scenery about Southamp- 
ton are doubtless due some of the most striking and 
beautiful passages of his hymns. It is situated on 
the south coast of England, at the head of South- 
ampton Water, between the Itchen on the east, and 
the Anton on the west, with the Isle of Wight in 
the distance, at the mouth of the bay. This island 
is separated from the main-land by an interval of 
from one to six miles, and serves as a vast natural 
breakwater, making this port one of the safest and 
most eligible in the United Kingdom. The scenery 
of the island is of remarkable beauty, and the cli- 
mate so salubrious that in one part the death-rate is 
lower than in any other locality in the United King- 
dom. The tradition is that these conditions furnished 
the costume of expression for the hymn, 

There is a land of pure delight. 

Certain it is that the language is such as exactly suits 
them, and by their aid we feel its force and beauty. 

"Death, like a narrow sea, divides 
This heavenly land from ours." 

"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood 
Stand dressed in living green." 

" Could we but climb where Moses stood, 
And view the landscape o'er, 
Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood 
Should fright us from the shore." 

There is little doubt that the imagery of one of 
the verses of another hymn may have been suggested 
by the same associations. Only one familiar with 
the sea, and accustomed to study its various moods, 



ISAAC WATTS. 



249 



would have been so felicitous in seizing upon and in- 
terpreting the most perfect symbol of rest which 
nature contains — water in repose : 

"There I shall bathe my weary soul 
In seas of heavenly rest, 
And not a wave of trouble roll 
Across my peaceful breast." 

The hymn in which this verse stands has been per- 
haps as often used as any of his hymns. It was sung 
on the field of Shiloh, the night after the battle, under 
circumstances of peculiar impressiveness. A Chris- 
tian officer had been severely wounded, and, being 
unable to help himself, lay all night on the field. 
Says he: "The stars shone out clear above the dark 
battle-field, and I began to think about God, who 
had given his Son to die for me, and that he was up 
above the glorious stars. I felt that I ought to praise 
him even while wounded on that battle-ground. I 
could not help singing: 

' When I can read my title clear 
To mansions in the skies, 
I '11 bid farewell to every fear, 
And wipe my weeping eyes.' 

There was a Christian brother in the brush near me. 
I could not see him, but I could hear him. He took 
up the strain. Another, beyond him, heard and 
joined in, and still others too. We made the field of 
battle ring with the hymn of praise to God/' 

Many volumes might be filled with illustrative 
anecdotes bearing upon the use of some line, stanza, 
or whole hymn even, which Watts has written. The 
full history of his hymns, if it could be written, 

17 



250 . STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



would be a great part, and a very interesting part, 
of the history of Protestant Christianity among En- 
glish-speaking peoples for the last hundred years. 
Scarcely another couplet in the entire range of Hym- 
nology has been so often quoted in the great crisis- 
hour of individual spiritual history as 

" Here, Lord, I give myself away, 
'T is all that I can do." 

Few verses appropriate to the dying hour are so often 
quoted, and with such satisfying effect, as 

"Jesus can make a dying bed 
Feel soft as downj' pillows are, 
While on his breast I lean my head, 
And breathe my life out sweetly there." 

And how often have the lines of the previous verse 
been the experience of God's children : 

" would my Lord his servant meet, 

My soul would stretch her wings in haste !" 

Said Thomas Scott the morning of his last day on 
earth : " I have done with darkness forever — for- 
ever. Nothing now remains but salvation and eter- 
nal glory — eternal glory !" Was not this the 
brightness of the coming of the Lord to meet his 
servant in the dark passage-way? 

When the good Bishop Beveridge was on his 
death-bed he was visited by a ministerial friend. 
" Bishop Beveridge, do you know me?" "Who are 
you ?" said the bishop. Being told, he answered : 
" I do n't know you." Another friend sought recog- 
nition. " I do n't know you " was still the answer. 
His wife addressed him, but with the same result. 



ISAAC WATTS. 



251 



At length one said: "Do you know Jesus Christ ?" 
" Jesus Christ?" said the dying man, as if the very 
name had touched a new spring of life. "O yes; I 
have known him for forty years. Precious Savior ! 
he is my only hope." Thus did the loving Master 
support and cheer his trusting disciple as the waters of 
the "dark and solemn ocean" were closing over him. 

Dr. Doddridge wrote to Watts of the powerful 
effect produced by the singing of one of his hymns 
in his own congregation. He had preached from 
Hebrews vi, 12: "Followers of them who through 
faith and patience inherit the promises and at the 
close of the sermon gave out the hymn : 

" Give me the wings of faith to rise 
Within the veil, and see 
The saints above, how great their joys, 
How bright their glories be. 

Once they were mourners here below, 

And poured out cries and tears ; 
They wrestled hard, as we do now, 

With sins and doubts and fears. 

I ask them whence their victory came ; 

They, with united breath, 
Ascribe their conquests to the Lamb, 

Their triumph to his death. 

Our glorious leader claims our praise 

For his own pattern given, 
While the long cloud of witnesses 

Show the same path to heaven." 

So perfectly suited were these words to the matter of 
the discourse, and so tender the associations awak- 
ened, that many could not sing for their emotion, 
and many sung amid tears. 



252 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



It is a matter of special interest that the memory 
' of Watts is, by many associations, so closely linked 
with that of the Wesleys. He lived about ten years 
after the beginning of that grand evangelical move- 
ment in which the Wesleys and Whitefield were the 
chief actors, though probably he never came into 
very close personal contact with any of its chief 
agents. But he did read some of Charles Wesley's 
hymns, and never did one eminent poet give to 
another, then comparatively unknown, such a gener- 
ous meed of praise. Said he : "I would rather be 
the author of that single poem ' Wrestling Jacob ' 
than of all the hymns which I have ever written.' 7 
Probably no other person ever agreed with him in 
this estimate, and these words should be quoted rather 
in honor of Watts than Wesley, in whose honor they 
have been so often quoted. (2) 

It is an interesting fact that the last words which 
fell from the lips of John Wesley were written by 
Watts. When the supreme moment came he was 
struggling to repeat that grand hymn of gratitude and 
victory : 

"I'll praise my Maker while I've breath, 
And when my voice is lost in death 
Praise shall employ my nobler powers," etc. 

This hymn Wesley began on earth, but finished it 
if he ever finished it at all, " before the throne of 
God." 

Some of the very best of the hymns of Watts 
owe their present perfection and much of their use- 
fulness to the finishing touches of John Wesley. 
The hymn " Before Jehovah's awful throne " is 



ISAAC WATTS. 



253 



an instance in point. As at first written it com- 
menced : 

"Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, 
Let every land his name adore ; 
The British isles shall scent the noise 
Across the ocean to the shore. 

Nations attend before his throne 
With solemn fear, with sacred joy," etc. 

Wesley dropped the first verse altogether, and 
changed the first two lines of the second to read : 

"Before Jehovah's awful throne, 

Ye nations, bow with sacred joy;" 

thus making a suitable beginning for a hymn which 
is almost unequaled in our language for strength and 
majesty. 

Two or three slight changes made by Wesley in 
the hymn above mentioned as spoken literally with 
his dying breath, are felt to be such improvements as 
materially to elevate the character of the hymn. 
Watts wrote : 

I'll praise my Maker with my breath, 
which Wesley changed to 

I '11 praise my Maker while I 've breath. 
In the third verse Watts wrote : 

The Lord hath eyes to give the blind. 
This Wesley altered to 

The Lord pours eyesight on the blind. 

In a similar way did Wesley change, materially for 
the better, several lines in that glad song of Chris- 



254 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



tian joy, " Come ye that love the Lord." At a 
single stroke he cleared away the weakness and im- 
purity of the first verse by changing it from the first 
to the second person — " Come ye" for " Come we," 
etc. The first four lines, as originally written, stood 
thus : 

"The God that rules on high, 

And thunders when he please, 
Who rides upon the stormy sky 
And calms the roaring seas," etc. 

Wesley made the second line to read, " That all the 
earth surveys." 

In the hymn commencing, " My drowsy powers, 
why sleep ye so ?" Watts wrote in the second verse : 

" The little ants for one poor grain 
Labor and tug and strive." 

Wesley reclaimed it from its uncouthness and vul- 
garism, and elevated it into the region of lyrical ex- 
pression by substituting : 

" Go to the ants ! For one poor grain 
See how they toil and strive." 

But the most striking instance of textual change, 
elevating and transforming the character of a whole 
hymn, is seen in the hymn commencing, 

"He dies! the friend of sinners dies! 
Lo! Salem's daughters weep around: 
A solemn darkness veils the skies, „ 
A sudden trembling shakes the ground;" 

which, as at first written by Watts, stood : 

" He dies ! the heavenly lover dies ! 
The tidings strike a doleful sound 
On my poor heart-strings. Deep he lies 
In the cold caverns of the ground!" 



ISAAC WATTS. 



255 



These hymns are all dear to the universal church, 
and it is a matter of considerable interest that, as 
now sung, they are the joint product of these two em- 
inent and honored representatives of the Calvinisttc 
and the Arminian type of Christian belief. 

Many of the hymns of Watts are a part of the 
universal language of English-speaking Christians, 
and are almost as sure to be known as the Bible 
itself. But a few of them have been selected by the 
critics as entitled to special mention because of their 
rare perfection as lyric poems. The two most fre- 
quently mentioned with the highest praise are : 

My God, the spring of all my joys. 

When I survey the wondrous cross. 

As examples of special felicity in versifying the 
Psalms the following have been quoted : 

O God, our help in ages past. 

The heavens declare thy glory, Lord. 



256 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE WESIvEYS. 



HE prominence of the famous Wesley family in 



-1- the general history of the Christian church is 
equaled only by its prominence in the history of 
Christian hymnody. 

Samuel Wesley, Senior (1662-1735)— father of his 
more distinguished sons, Samuel, John, and Charles — 
was educated at Oxford, and was, for most of his life, 
rector of the parish of Epworth, in Lincolnshire, 
His grandfather, Bartholomew, and his own father, 
John, were both Dissenters, and were driven from 
their pulpits, fined, imprisoned, and, in the case of the 
father, crushed by the persecutions which they suf- 
fered as Non-conformists. In the exercise of that in- 
dependence and self-reliance so characteristic of him, 
he started for Exeter College, Oxford, with less than 
three pounds in his pocket; yet with such energy and 
economy did he apply himself to the problem of self- 
support that, though during his entire college course 
he did not receive aid to the amount of a crown, he 
was able to leave college with ten pounds, after de- 
fraying all expenses. Notwithstanding the bitter 
wrongs which his father had suffered, and which 
drove him to his grave at the early age of thirty-four, 
he decided to enter the ministry of the Established 
Church, and in this ministry lived and died. His 




THE WESLEYS. 



257 



noble wife, too — one of the most extraordinary women 
who have ever lived — experienced a similar revolu- 
tion in her views on the great and overshadowing 
question of Conformity. Her father — Dr. Annesley — 
was an eminent Non-conformist divine, but this hi*s 
favorite daughter early came to clear convictions in 
favor of Conformity, and that, too, without at all in- 
terrupting the warm affection which existed between 
them. 

In Samuel Wesley we mark a distinct prophecy 
of the remarkable poetical gifts of his sons. From 
the first he himself shows an irrepressible proclivity 
for rhyming. He wrote a " Life of Christ" in verse, 
as also " The History of the Old and New Testa- 
ments" in the same form. Dunton says that he would 
write two hundred couplets a day, a statement which 
in itself almost vindicates the remark of another that 
" the current of his verse was so rapid as to carry with 
it all the lighter rubbish of its banks, and to sink 
whatever of weighty value was cast upon it." Two 
of his hymns are in somewhat common use : 

Behold the Savior of mankind ! 
What shall I render to my God ? 

This last must not be confounded with a hymn by 
Watts, founded on the same passage — Psalms cxvi, 13. 
The first was found written on a piece of music res- 
cued from the flames of the Epworth rectory. In 
this fire John Wesley narrowly escaped perishing ; 
and the first act of the father, when he saw that all 
his family were safe, was to kneel down with them to 
thank God for his protection and deliverance. As a 



258 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



memento of this interesting passage in the history of 
the Wesley family, as well as for its own intrinsic 
merit, this hymn is highly prized. 

Samuel Wesley, Junior (1690-1739), was the old- 
est son of the foregoing, and, like him, was a Church- 
man. As to church order he stood at the very an- 
tipodes of his brothers John and Charles, being thor- 
oughly High-church in his views, and utterly opposed 
to the irregularities of the Methodistic movement. 
He was educated at Oxford, was an excellent 
scholar, and an author of some reputation. For 
twenty years he was an usher at Westminster School, 
and for the last seven years of his life he was head 1 
master of the school at Tiverton. The following 
hymns are his : 

The Lord of Sabbath let us praise. 

The morning flowers display their sweets. 

His literary taste, and probably also his churchly 
sympathies, led him to express in verse his views of 
the prevalent tendency to put the Psalms into meter 
and rhyme-^a protest which, as there can hardly be 
any doubt, was directed particularly against Dr. 
Watts : 

"Has David Christ to come foreshowed? 
Can Christians, then, aspire 
To mend the harmony that flowed 
From his prophetic lyre? 

How curious are their wits, and vain ; 

Their erring zeal how bold. 
Who durst with meaner dross profane 

His purity of gold ! 



THE WESLEY S. 



259 



The Psalms unchanged the saints employ, 

Unchanged our God applies ; 
They suit the apostles in their joy, 

The Savior when he dies. 

Let David's pure, unaltered lays 
Transmit through ages down 

To thee, David's Lord, our praise- 
To thee, David's Son ! 

Till judgment calls the seraph throng 

To join the human choir, 
And God, who gave the ancient song, 

The new one shall inspire." 

The history of John Wesley (1703-1791) has often 
been told, and need not here be repeated. The his- 
tory of no minister, from the days of the apostles to 
the present time, is more widely and universally fa- 
miliar. The estimate in which he should be held is 
already made up, and can not be materially changed. 
It has come to be felt on all hands that his is one of 
the grandest characters in all history — that his friends 
and followers have no occasion to blush for him, as 
he takes his seat in the very highest society of earth— 
and that the career it was given him to fulfill had a 
most influential bearing upon the history of Protest- 
ant Christianity among all the peoples who speak the 
English language. Of all the movements which have 
been set on foot in the sacred name of religion, no 
one has been more catholic, more spiritual, or more 
Christly in its genius and in its methods than that of 
which John Wesley was, in some eminent sense, the 
originator, and in which he was a chief actor. The 
Churchman, Isaac Taylor, pronounces it "the starting 
point of our modern religious history," and asserts 



2b0 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



that u the field-preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, in 
1739, was the event whence the religious epoch now 
current must date its commencement/' 

But it is with the relations of John Wesley to 
Christian hymnody that this sketch is solely con- 
cerned. His work here is of three kinds — alterations 
of hymns w r ritten by others, translations of hymns 
from other languages, and original hymns. Of his 
work as a hymn-mender we have already given illus- 
trations taken from the hymns of Watts. There is 
little doubt that the hymns of his brother Charles 
may be also much indebted to his more critical though 
less affluent pen. It is by no means improbable that 
some of these precious hymns may be the joint pro- 
duct of these brothers, just as certain hymns already 
mentioned are, in their present form, the joint pro- 
duct of Watts and John Wesley. 

But his most important contributions to hymnol- 
ogy were made in the form of translations. His em- 
inent mission was to bring the spiritual hymns of the 
Moravians, and the French and German Pietists and 
Mystics, into the English tongue, and so into the 
hearts of his followers. In them w r as struck the key- 
note of Christian experience for himself and his 
people. Among the most potent and stimulating in- 
fluences which have ever come to the English churches 
are the hymns of such men as Gerhardt, Tersteegen, 
the Langes, Rothe, Winkler, Spangenberg, and Zin- 
zendorf, and to them Methodism owes much of the 
vigor and fervor of her spiritual life. 

Considered as translations these hymns are worthy 
of high praise. Clear, accurate, dignified, poetic in 



THE WESLEYS. 



261 



diction, and forcible in style, they are, in their way, 
models. We read and sing them with no feeling that 
they were written in another language than ours. 
The only objection which can lie against them is as to 
the meter, which is in octo-syllabled lines ; arranged, 
for the most part, six lines to a stanza, giving one of 
the heaviest meters ever employed in religious poetry, 
and one for which it is exceedingly difficult to find 
suitable music. 

The following is a list of the principal translations 
of Mr. Wesley, which are still kept as hymns in the 
congregations : 

God, of good the unfathomed sea. Scheffler. 

1 thank thee, Uncreated Sun. " 

God, thou bottomless abyss. E. Lange. 

Thine, Lord, is wisdom, thine alone. " 

God, what offering shall I give? J. Lange. 
Now I have found the ground wherein. Roihe. 
Though waves and storms go o'er my head. " 

My soul before thee prostrate lies. Richter. 
Thou Lamb of God, thou Prince of Peace. " 
Eternal depth of love divine. Zinzendorf. 
Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. 

1 thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God. 
Extended on a cursed tree. Gerhardt. 
Jesus, thy boundless love to me. 

Commit thou all thy griefs. 
Give to the winds thy fears. 



262 STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



Into thy gracious hands I fall. Dessler. 
Thou hidden love of God, whose height. Tersteegen. 
O Thou, to whose all-searching sight. " 
O Thou, who all things canst control. " 
Lo ! God is here ! Let us adore. " 
Holy Lamb, who thee receive. Mrs. A. S. Dober. 

High on his everlasting throne. Spangenberg. 
Shall I, for fear of feeble man. Winkler. 
Savior of men, thy searching eye, " 
Lord, within thy sacred gate. From the Spanish. 

Come, Savior, Jesus, from above. Mad. BourignonSV 

The following original hymns are from his pen: 
Father of all, whose powerful voice. 
Ho ! every one that thirsts, draw nigh. 
Sun of righteousness, arise. 
Ye simple souls, that stray. 
We lift our hearts to thee, 
How happy is the pilgrim's lot ! ^ 
Of these the last is the most autobiographic. In- 
deed, some of the verses are so exactly suited to Mr. 
Wesley as to be quite unsuited for the use of average 
mortals. Take, for instance, these of the original, 
which, for very manifest reasons, are not found in the 
hymn-books : 

" I have no sharer of my heart 
To rob my Savior of a part, 

And desecrate the whole ; 
Only betrothed to Christ am I, 
And wait his coming in the sky, 

To wed my happy soul. 



THE WESLEYS. 



263 



I have no babes to hold me here, 
But children more securely dear 

For mine, I humbly claim ; 
Better than daughters or than sons, 
Temples divine of living stones, 

Inscribed with Jesu's name." 

Seldom has good poetry been used with such dis- 
mal effect as in these lines. We can not fail to recog- 
nize here the dark shadow of that most fallacious and 
pernicious doctrine of priestly celibacy. There is an 
evident implication that a man may be a better Chris- 
tian and a better minister for being childless and un- 
married. As we read these verses we can not repress 
a feeling of pity, not so much for the loneliness of 
the writer's lot — without " babes ;? and without a 
" sharer of his heart " — but because he seems to find 
in these essentially abnormal conditions matter for 
self-gratulation. There is, however, a half-truth in 
all this, and the complementary truth Mr. Wesley 
sets forth in other places in his writings most clearly 
and forcibly. 

But the great name in Christian hymnody, con- 
tributed by the Wesley family, is that of Charles 
Wesley (1708-1788). He wrote more hymns — and 
we will add, more good hymns — than any other ten 
men who have written hymns in the English lan- 
guage. Watts wrote less than seven hundred, Dodd- 
ridge less than four hundred, Montgomery less than two 
hundred, while Charles Wesley wrote from seven to 
eight thousand ! Of course some of these are such as 
not even his most ardent admirers can find much 
pleasure in reading, but others exhibit a wealth and 
beauty of lyrical expression truly marvelous. A 



264 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



prominent actor in the most important evangelical 
movement since the days of the apostles, his hymns 
have the rare merit of reflecting every significant 
phase of that movement; so that if the question be 
asked to-day, What is Methodism as a creed, an ex- 
perience, a life ? — a more adequate answer can be 
found in these hymns than anywhere else, not ex- 
cepting the Sermons of John Wesley or the Institutes 
of Richard Watson. It has been said : " Let him 
who would form a good English style give his days 
and nights to the study of Addison." With more 
propriety may it be said: "Let him who would un- 
derstand that wonderful movement called Methodism, 
and especially him who would enter into and partake 
of its life — who would feel the thrill and glow and 
exhilaration so characteristic of it — give his days and 
nights to the study of the hymns of Charles Wesley." 
Next to the New Testament itself, they are the best 
body of experimental divinity ever written. No man 
can sing them heartily and habitually, " with the 
spirit and the understanding also," without coming 
to a just and discriminating sense of the real genius 
of Methodism. 

In unusual measure these hymns bear the stamp 
of the author's personal history and experience. Even 
his letters to her who afterwards became his wife 
were often written in verse ; and when we remember 
that he was at this time a clergyman, forty years of 
age, and leading a most active and laborious life, we 
shall realize how absolutely irrepressible his poetic 
proclivities must have been. Among the best known 
of his hymns are such as the following : 



THE WES LEYS. 

Jesus, lover of my soul. 

for a thousand tongues to sing. 

A charge to keep I have. 

Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay ! 

Jesus, the name high over all. 

How happy every child of grace. 

Come, thou Traveler unknown. 

Stand the omnipotent decree. 

Depth of mercy! can there be? 

Arise, my soul, arise. 

And must I be to judgment brought? 

Love divine, all love excelling. 

Light of those whose dreary dwelling. 

Come on, my partners in distress. 

Lo ! He comes, with clouds descending. 

Forever here my rest shall be. 

Blow ye the trumpet, blow. 

Soldiers of Christ, arise ! 

Thou God of glorious majesty. 

And am I only born to die? 

Come, thou Almighty King. 

Love divine, how sweet thou art ! 

Thou Shepherd of Israel, and mine. 

Vain, delusive world, adieu ! 

Hark ! the herald angels sing. 

See how great a flame aspires. (1 > 
18 * 



266 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



This list might easily be extended so as to embrace 
as many more which are generally familiar and dear 
to the heart of the universal church, but these will 
serve as illustrative specimens. The Wesleyan Hymn- 
book of Great Britain contains six hundred and 
twenty-seven of his hymns, and many others are met 
with, scattered through the various hymnals of other 
denominations. Eobert Southey says of them that 
they have been a more devoutly committed to mem- 
ory/' and "oftener repeated on a death-bed," than 
any others. But life is a more just and adequate test 
than death, and with even more emphasis may it be 
said that no hymns have ministered to the wants of 
the human soul, in the great crises of spiritual history, 
more frequently or more helpfully than these. We 
hear among them voices for all phases and grades of 
spiritual experience, and all forms of Christian Avork — 
awakening conviction, penitence, pardon, assurance ; 
rejoicing in sins forgiven, in communion with God, 
in prospect of heaven ; the closet, the family, the 
church ; evangelistic work, charitable work, reform 
work, — everything which lies between the fearful ruin 
wrought by sin and the glorious consummation of the 
work of human recovery. Every condition in life, 
every occupation, and almost every event, is here 
represented. Among his general captions we find : 
"Hymns for Watch-Nights," " New-Year's Day," 
"The Lord's Supper," "The Nativity of Our Lord," 
" Our Lord's Resurrection," " Hymns Occasioned by 
the Earthquake," " Hymns for Times of Trouble and 
Persecution," " Hymns for Methodist Preachers," 
" Hymns for the Use , of Families," " Hymns for 



THE WESLEY S. 



267 



Children," " Prayers for Condemned Malefactors," 
" Hymns for the Nation," " Funeral Hymns," etc. 
Among the titles of individual hymns are such as 
these : " For a Family in Want," " To be Sung at 
Tea-table," " For a Persecuting Husband," " At Send- 
ing a Child to a Boarding-school," " A Collier's 
Hymn," " For an Unconverted Wife," " For One 
Retired into the Country," " A Wedding-song," " On 
Going to Work;" and the more common captions, 
such as "For Sabbath," " Bereavement," " Sleep," 
" Morning and Evening." To many a devout Meth- 
odist these hymns have been, as indeed they are suited 
to be, " the key of the morning and the bolt of the 
night." Indeed these hymns, beautiful and felicitous 
as they often are in the mere matter of expression, 
seldom seem like mere words, but like " a heart poured 
out into a heart — a child-like, dependent human heart 
into the great, infinite, tender heart of God." Of 
this Bishop Wordsworth complains, and even finds 
such sensuous and amatory suggestions in " Jesus, 
lover of my soul," as to be shocked to hear it given 
out in a promiscuous congregation, gathered from the 
poor and sinful in a great city ; but it may be safely 
said that right-minded persons are more shocked at 
the criticism than the hymn. This warm, glowing, 
seraphic quality in Wesley's hymns is their grand, 
distinguishing characteristic, and the one reason why 
they will ever be placed, by many, above all other 
uninspired compositions. 

Their influence is well illustrated in that exceed- 
ingly choice, if not the very choicest of Mrs. Charles's 
books— " The Diary of Mrs. Kitty Trevylyan." One 



268 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



of her characters had been a poor, ignorant, and des- 
perately wicked Cornish wrecker, but had been reached 
by the evangelists and brought to Christ, and is made 
to tell his story in this way : 

Yes, missis, my sin is the same, I think. I hate 
it more ; it 's seldom out of my sight. King David 
says, " My sin is ever before me;" and I find him 
pretty right. And the eyes of the living Lord are on 
me, searching me through and through, seems to me 
deeper and deeper 'most every day ; and I can 't avoid 
them any more than I could ; but, thank the Lord, I 
do nH want to. There 's the difference — I do n't want 
to. I would n't be out of the sight of his eyes for 
the world.' 

" ' And what helped you thus at last ?' said mother. 

" ' It was mostly the hymns,' said Toby ; ' first the 
Bible, then mostly the hymns ; for they are the Bible 
for the most part, only set to music, like, so that it 
rings in your heart like a tune. It was the hymns, 
and what they said at the class-meeting. Before I 
went to the class, and heard what they had to say 
there, I thought I was all alone, like a castaway on 
a sandy shore, under a great sheer wall of cliffs; a 
narrow strip of sand, which no mortal man had ever 
trod before, and which the tide was fast sweeping 
over, bit by bit. To spell out the hymns in the book 
by myself was like finding foot-prints on the sands, 
and that was something. It made me feel my trouble 
was no madness, as poor mother called it; no mad 
dream, but waking up from the maddest dream that 
could be. It made me see that others had felt as I 
felt, and struggled as I was struggling, and had got 



THE WESLEYS. 



269 



through ! But when I went to the class, and heard them 
sing the hymns, it was like hearing voices on the top 
of the cliffs, cheering me up and pointing out the 
way. Our class-leader is no great speaker, but he 
has got a wonderful feeling heart, and a fine voice for 
the hymns, and it 's they that has finished Parson 
Wesley's work and healed the wound he made : 

"Depth of mercy! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me?" 

That was the first that settled down in my heart. I 
could n't listen any further, and I could n't get that 
out of my head for days, until another took its place — 

"Jesus, let thy pitying eye 

Call back a wandering sheep ; 
False to thee, like Peter, I 

Would fain like Peter weep. 
Let me be by grace restored ; 

On me be all long-suffering shown ; 
Turn, and look upon me, Lord, 

And break my heart of stone ! 

For thine own compassion's sake, 

The gracious wonder show ; 
Cast my sins behind thy back, 

And wash me white as snow. 
If thy bowels now are stirred, 

If now I do myself bemoan, 
Turn, and look upon me, Lord, 

And break my heart of stone ! 

Look, as when thy languid eye 

Was closed, that we might live — 
' Father' (at the point to die 

My Savior gasped), 'forgive!' 
Surely, with that dying word, 

He turns, and looks, and cries, "Tis done!' 
O my bleeding, loving Lord, 

Thou break'st my heart of stone.' " 



270 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



" That hymn, Toby said, seemed to put a new pic- 
ture in his heart. Instead of the pale face of the poor 
lad, lying lifeless on the sands, which had lately 
haunted him night and day, another countenance rose 
before him, pale and all but lifeless, but with the 
hollow eyes, large with pain, fixed in the tenderest 
pity on him. He understood that " God was in Christ 
reconciling the world unto himself." He felt that it 
was the face of the Judge that looked so tenderly on 
him from the cross; that suffering, beyond any he 
had ever dreaded, had been borne for him by the 
Lord himself — made sin for him. And he felt that 
he was forgiven. 

" Then all day his heart seemed bursting with the 
joy of reconciliation, and he was singing — 

' Thee will I love, my joy, my crown ; 

Thee will I love, my Lord, my God ; 
Thee will I love, beneath thy frown 

Or smile, thy scepter or thy rod ; 
What though my flesh and heart decay ; 
Thee shall I love in endless day.' 

Everywhere that dying face of his Savior seemed 
beaming on him in the fullness of pity and love, and 
those words — ' 'T is done ! Father, forgive V — filled 
all the world with music. He could see or hear 
nothing else. 

And now?' said mother. 
Ui Now, missis/ said Toby, 'I see all things once 
more as they are ; but it seems as if everything were 
changed inwardly, though the outside is the same. 
The curse is taken out of every thing. Even that 
poor, dead lad's face, I see it now, and I am not 



THE WESLEYS. 



271 



afeared. For it seems to say : " Not to me, Toby, it 's 
too late, I want nothing ; not to me, but to all the 
rest, for my sake." And the two faces seem to get 
mixed up in my mind, Missis — the poor, drowned lad's 
and His — and still the words the dumb lips speak are 
the same : " Not to me ; all is well with me ; but to all 
the rest for my sake." And that/ concluded Toby, ' is 
what I live in hopes it will be given me to do before 
I die/ 

"'How, Toby?' 

" ( Why, Missis/ he said, 1 1 watch for the wrecks 
more than ever I did in old time. I watch for the 
crews as I never watched for the cargoes. And one 
of these days it is my belief the Lord will give me 
to save some of them, and to see some poor, lifeless 
souls wake up to life again up there by mother's fire. 
And then I shall feel those two faces smiling on me 
up in heaven — the poor, drowned lad's, missis, and 
the blessed Lord's himself. And that will be reward 
enough for an angel, let alone that an angel could 
never know the shame, and the sin, and the bitter 
reproaches in my heart, that makes it like heaven to 
me to dare to look up in his face at all.' " 

One of the most notable of Charles Wesley's hymns 
is that known as " Wrestling Jacob" — beginning, 
" Come, O thou Traveler unknown." The testimony 
of Watts in its favor has already been quoted. John 
Wesley indicated his own estimate of this testimony 
by incorporating it into the biographical notice of his 
brother, in the Minutes of the conference, at the time 
of his death. Dean Trench says of it : " Though not 
eminently adapted for liturgic use, it is yet quite the 



272 



STUDIES IN HYMNOIOGY. 



noblest of Charles Wesley's hymns." Considered as a 
poetical composition, this opinion might be generally 
acquiesced in ; but considered as a hymn, this can by no 
means be true. It neither belongs to the highest class 
of Christian hymns, nor does it satisfy the highest 
conditions of utility. It is by no means from the 
mere accident of being without music well suited for 
popular use that it is so seldom heard, even in the 
social meetings, but because it is not well suited to 
answer the purpose of a hymn. But its eminent 
Scripturalness, its deep spirituality, its felicity of 
style, its vividness, and its thoroughly sustained in- 
terest from beginning to end, bear eloquent testimony 
to the wonderful genius of the author. 

Robert Southey pronounces " Stand the omnipo- 
tent decree " " the finest lyric in the English language f* 
but if the judgment of those who have made much 
use of the Wesleyan hymns — and so have made up 
their judgment by the test of experience rather than 
of literary taste — is of any value, there are many finer 
among the hymns of Mr. Wesley. 

The hymn u O for a thousand tongues to sing" — 
which has, from the first, occupied the place of honor 
in the Methodist hymn-books of Great Britain and 
America — was written on the first anniversary of his 
spiritual birth, and so is, doubtless in an eminent de- 
gree, the outpouring of his own rapturous emotions. 

" Come away to the skies, my beloved, arise, 
And rejoice in the day thou wast born ;" 

and 

, " Come, let us ascend, my companion and friend, 
To a taste of the banquet above," 

were both addressed to his wife on her birth day. (1) 



THE WESLEYS. 



273 



But beyond question the most popular, if not the 

most famous, of Charles Wesley's hymns is " Jesus, 

lover of my soul." Says Henry Ward Beecher : " I 

would rather have written that hymn than to have 

the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the 

earth. ... It will go on singing until the last 

trump brings forth the angel-band; and then, I think, 

will mount up on some lip to the very presence of 

God." The last indication of life that Dr. Lyman 

Beecher gaye was his mute response to his wife, as 

she repeated : 

"Jesus, lover of nay soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly." 

"Two lines of this hymn," says Rev. Theodore L. 
Cuyler, "have been breathed fervently and often out 
of bleeding hearts. When we were once in the valley 
of death-shade, with one beautiful child in the new- 
made grave and the other threatened with fatal disease, 
there was no prayer which we said oftener than this — 

' Leave. leave me not alone ! 
Still support and comfort me !' 

We do not doubt that tens of thousands of other be- 
reaved and wounded hearts have tried this piercing 
cry out of the depths." 

To Margaret Wilson, the Scotch martyr, the terms 
of this hymn had a most apposite application, and to 
her was the prayer of this hymn most blessedly and 
eminently fulfilled. A young woman of eighteen, she 
had been informed against as a Covenanter, and was 
condemned to die by being fastened to a stake, where 
the slowly rising tide would come over her. To try 
her constancy still more severely, an older woman 



274 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



was also fastened to a stake still lower down, in order 
that the sight of her death-agonies might move Mar- 
garet. As the waters rose, and she saw her aged 
companion wrestling with death, the heartless men 
asked Margaret : " What do you see there ?" " I see," 
said Margaret, unmoved, " Christ suffering there. Do 
you think we are the sufferers ? No, it is Christ in us ; 
for he sends none on a warfare upon his own charges." 
She then chanted the Twenty-fifth Psalm, beginning — 

"Let n^t the errors of my youth, 
Nor sins, remembered be ; 
In mercy, for thy goodness' sake, 
Lord, remember me." 

Afterward she repeated, with a cheerful voice, the 
eighth chapter of Romans, ending : " For I am per- 
suaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love 
of God, which is in Christ Jesus, my Lord." And 
then, as she was commending her soul to God in 
prayer, the waters of the dark and solemn sea closed 
over her. She had found in Christ's bosom a refuge 
from the nearer waters of eajthly danger and death. 

Several accounts have been given of the origin of 
this hymn, but all are of more than doubtful authen- 
ticity. The most elaborate and interesting of these 
is given in Rev. Edwin M. Long's " History of the 
Hymns," and of it Mr. Long says : " These interest- 
ing facts were given by Mr. Pilmore, who was an eye- 
witness, to an intimate friend, Mr. Hicks, who stated 
them to Rev. I. H. Torrence, of Philadelphia, from 



THE WESLEYS. 



275 



whom I received them. The same statement was also 
previously given to me by the aged Rev. Dr. Collier, 
who received it from an Englishman, who was contem- 
porary with Wesley." The story is this: 

"Charles and John Wesley and Richard Pilmore were 
holding one of their twilight meetings on the common, when 
the mob assailed them, and they were compelled to flee for 
their lives. Being separated for a time, as they were being 
pelted with stones, they at length, in their flight, succeeded in 
getting beyond a hedge-row, where they prostrated themselves 
on the ground, and placed their hands on the back of their 
heads for protection from the stones, which still came so near 
that they could feel the current of air made by the missiles as 
they went whizzing over them. In the night-shades that were 
gathering, they managed to hide from the fury of the rabble 
in a spring-house. Here they struck a light with a flint-stone, 
and after dusting their clothes and washing, they refreshed 
themselves with the cooling water that came bubbling up in 
a spring, and rolling out in a silver streamlet. Charles Wesley 
pulled out a lead pencil — made by hammering to a point a 
piece of lead — and from the inspiration of these surroundings, 
composed the precious hymn."t2) 

One of the most solemn and impressive of all these 
hymns of Charles Wesley reflects the scenery of 
Land's End, even more vividly than do any of 
Watts's that of Southampton. The second verse of 
the hymn "Thou God of glorious majesty" reads as 
follows : 

" Lo ! on a narrow neck of land, 
'Twixt two unbounded seas, I stand 

Secure, insensible ; 
A point of time, a moment's space, 
Removes me to that heavenly place, 

Or shuts me up in hell." 

The hymn above mentioned as praised by Southey — 
" Stand the omnipotent decree " — doubtless derives 



276 



STUDIES IN HYMNOLOGY. 



much of its special interest and impressiveness in 
that it was written "For the Year 1756" — a time 
when men were appalled by the terrible calamity of 
the great Lisbon earthquake. Read in the light of 
this fearful catastrophe, the sublimity of its almost 
unequaled utterances is fully evident : 

" Stand the omnipotent decree ; 

Jehovah's will be done ; 
Nature's end we wait to see, 

And hear her final groan. 
Let this earth dissolve, and blend 

In death the wicked and the just; 
Let those ponderous orbs descend, 

And grind us into dust ! 

Rests secure the righteous man ; 

At his Redeemer's beck, 
Sure to emerge, and rise again, 

And mount above the wreck. 
Lo ! the heavenly spirit towers, 

Like flames o'er nature's funeral pyre ; 
Triumphs in immortal powers, 

And claps his wings of fire. 

Nothing hath the just to lose, 

By worlds on worlds destroyed ; 
Far beneath his feet he views, 

With smiles, the flaming void ; 
Sees this universe renewed, 

The grand, millennial reign begun ; 
Shouts, with all the sons of God, 

Around the eternal throne." 

Come, let us join our friends above, 

was a special favorite with John Wesley. It is the 
concluding part of what was originally a long poem 
of more than a hundred lines ; which poem has been 
divided into four hymns, which, in the Methodist 



4 



THE WESLEYS. 



277 



Hymnal, are made to follow each other in proper 
order. The part commencing, 

Come, let us join our friends above, 
is a tender and beautiful tribute to the memory of 
the pious dead. One of the most tender traditions 
of the later years of John Wesley is that which rep- 
resents him as having, on one occasion, come to the 
chapel at City Roads, where he was to preach that 
evening; and as the shades of the evening were gath- 
ering around him, standing with his head bowed on 
his hand, as if holding communion with the invisible 
world; and then giving out this hymn, in which he 
seemed to gather up the precious memories which 
bound him to the first band of heroic workers, of 
which he was then almost the sole survivor: 

" Come, let us join our friends above, 
That have obtained the prize, 
And on the eagle-wings of love 
To joys celestial rise. . . . 

One family we dwell in Him ; 

One church above, beneath, 
Though now divided by the stream, 

The narrow stream of death. 
One army of the living God, 

To his command we bow ; 
Part of his host have crossed the flood, 
» And part are crossing now. 

Our old companions in distress, 

We haste again to see ; 
And eager long for our release, 

And full felicity. 
E'en now, by faith, we join our hands 

With those that went before ; 
And greet the blood-besprinkled bands 

On the eternal shore." 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



By the Editor. 



CHAPTER I. 

W Dr. Schaff says that the number of German hymns can 
not fall short of 100,000. Dean George Ludvig von Harden- 
berg, of Halberstadt, in 1786, prepared a catalogue of first lines 
of 72,733 hymns, and the number, not completed then, has 
been greatly increased since. 

<- 2 ) Of these two hymns, the first was composed for his 
wife's twenty-ninth birthday, October, 12, 1755; the second 
seems to have been generally "for Christian friends," and ap- 
peared in the author's "Hymns and Sacred Poems," 1749. It 
was of this latter hymn that the saintly Fletcher said: " When 
the triumphal chariot of perfect love gloriously carries you to 
the top of perfection's hill ; when you are raised far above the 
common heights of the perfect ; when you are almost trans- 
lated into glory, like Elijah,— then you may sing this hymn." 

(3) Composed during a solitary walk in the field, when the 
poet was tortured by an apprehension of returning madness. 
It was the last he ever wrote for the famous Olney collection. 

( 4 ) Part of the hymn found in the Olney collection, en- 
titled "Looking at the Cross," and beginning — 

" In evil, long I took delight, 
Unawed by shame or fear, 
Till a new object struck my sight, 
And stopped my wild career." 

( 5 ) A selection from a poem of ten stanzas, entitled " De- 
siring Eesignation and Thankfulness," the first stanza of 
which is — 

" When I survey life's varied scene, 
Amid the darkest hours, 
Sweet rays of comfort shine between, 
And thorns are mixed with flowers." 

( 6 ) From the Evening Hymn in the " Christian Year." 
The original has fourteen stanzas, of which the third, seventh, 

278 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



279 



eighth, and last three verses, are usually given in hymn col- 
lections. 

( 7 ) This, one of Wesley's hymns for children, is given en- 
tire in the Methodist Hymnal, No. 968, and begins, " And am 
I only born to die?" Two stanzas are here omitted. 

CHAPTER II. 

Ci) " Poesy is of so subtle a spirit that, in pouring of one 
language into another, it will evaporate." — Denham. 

(2) The Trisagion is said to have been first introduced into 
the Liturgy in the reign of the younger Theodosius (408-450), 
but it is probably much older. Tradition has it that it was 
supernaturally communicated to the terror-stricken popula- 
tion of Constantinople during an earthquake of St. Proclus 
(A. D. 434). 

W The Gloria consisted originally of the few words in Luke 
ii, 14, to which subsequent additions were made — first in the 
Greek, then in the Latin church — until, in the fifth century, it 
is found substantially as in use to-day. 

( 4 ) There is a legend to the effect that Ambrose composed 
and sang the Te Deum by inspiration, when he baptized Au- 
gustine ; also, that they sang it responsively. This latter sug- 
gestion has been poetically wrought out by Mrs. Margaret J. 
Preston, in "The First Te Deum" (see her "Colonial Ballads," 
1887). It is generally believed to be a composite of some 
Greek morning hymns and metrical renderings of Scriptural 
passages. 

Farrar (Lives of the Fathers, I, 278) doubts the gen- 
uineness of this hymn, claiming that, while it is beautiful and 
interesting, it probably belongs to a later age. 

W This version is found in the Methodist Hymnal, No. 885. 

(7) The author mentions a dozen others by title, one of 
which deserves more than passing notice ; namely, " Redeemer 
of the nations, come !" Dr. Schaff calls this the best of the 
Ambrosian hymns, full of faith, rugged vigor, austere sim- 
plicity, and bold contrasts. We subjoin the first and last 
stanzas (of seven) in Dr. Ray Palmer's translation : 

" O Thou, Redeemer of our race ! 

Come, show the Virgin's Son to earth; 



280 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



Let every age admire the grace ; 
Worthy a God thy human birth ! 

With light divine thy manger streams, 

That kindles darkness into day ; 
Dimmed by no night henceforth, its beams 

Shine through all time with changeless ray." 

The translation by John Franck, Trench calls one of the 
choicest treasures of the German hymn-book, and Bunsen 
says it is "even deeper and lovelier than the Latin." See 
Lyra Germanica, First Series, page 186. 

( § ) Confessions, ix, 6. " How greatly did I weep in thy 
hymns and canticles, deeply moved by the voices of thy sweet- 
speaking church ! The voices flowed into mine ears, and the 
truth was poured forth into my heart, whence the agitation of 
my piety overflowed, and my tears ran over, and blessed was I 
therein." 

( 9 ) Confessions, ix, 7. 

CHAPTER III. 

CD The original is still in use in the Eoman church, being 
sung on Good Friday, during the procession in which the con- 
secrated host is carried to the altar. This hymn is selected as 
one of "the seven great hymns of the medieval church" by 
the editor of a work tearing that name, and published by 
A. D. F. Randolph & Co., New York. 

(2) This famous hymn is said by Rev. John Ellerton, the 
translator, to be, with the same author's " Crux benedicta 
nitet," the earliest instance of elegiac verse in Christian song. 
The transfusion of Ellerton's, which finds a place in the hymn 
collections, is in a different measure from the original, which 
runs: 

" Salve f esta dies, toto venerabilis sevo, 
Qua Deus infernum vicit, et astra tenet, 
Salve festa dies, toto venerabilis aevo." 

Throughout the poem the first two lines of this verse form the 
third line of the other verses alternately. The festal day re- 
ferred to is Easter. 

(3) Besides Charlemagne and Gregory, the authorship has 
been claimed for Rabanus, archbishop of Mayence (776-856). 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



281 



Dryden's version in English has been commended by Warton 
as "a most elegant and beautiful little morsel, and one of his 
most correct compositions." It opens: 

"Creator Spirit, by whose aid 
The world's foundations first were laid, 
Come, visit every pious mind ; 
Come, pour thy joys on human kind ; 
From sin and sorrow set us free, 
And make thy temples worthy thee." 

(V The translation by Ray Palmer is found in the Method- 
ist Hymnal, No. 284. Miss Winkworth furnishes a translation 
of this hymn from the German for the "Lyra Germanica," 
which, according to competent authority, is a finer translation 
than any that professes to be from the Latin. We give the 
second and third stanzas : 

" Come, Father of the poor, to earth ; 
Come, with thy gifts of precious worth ; 
Come, Light of all of mortal birth ! 

Thou rich in comfort ! Ever blest 

The heart where thou art constant guest, 

Who giv'st the heavy-laden rest." 

( g ) See Methodist Hymnal, No. 1047, where it has been con- 
siderably altered. Dr. Neale, the translator, thinks it " ex- 
tremely pretty" as a song, but not intended for Church use. 

(6) Methodist Hymnal, No. 230. It is still in use in the 
Greek church, and Neale, in his " Hymns of the Eastern 
Church" (p. 92), quotes a graphic account of the celebration in 
which it is sung. 

CHAPTER IV. 

( l ) The hymns of Bernard, cited here, are all in the Meth- 
odist Hymnal, the second and fourth being especial favorites 
with our people. "Of him who did salvation bring" was, at 
one time, credited to Charles Wesley ; the matter and style of 
the poem bewraying, as was thought, the Wesleyan genius. It 
was discovered afterwards in a book of translations by A. W. 
Boehm (1673-1722), and has since been properly assigned. 
" Jesus, the very thought of thee," has been denominated "the 
sweetest and most evangelical (as the Dies Irce is the grandest, 

19 



282 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



and the Stabat Mater the most pathetic) hymn of the Middle 
Ages." Trench, selecting fifteen of the forty-eight or fifty 
quatrains for his "Latin Poetry," remarks: "Where all was 
beautiful, the task of selecting was a hard one." 

( 2 ) For the benefit of Latin scholars we subjoin the text: 

" Sicut chorda musicorum 
Tandem sonum dat sonorum 

Plectri ministerio, 
Sic in chely tormentorum 
Melos Christ! confessorum 

Martyris dat tensio. 

Paruni sapis vim sinapis, 
Si non tangis, si non frangis; 
Et plus fragrat, quando flagrat, 

Tus injectum ignibus ; 
Sic arctatus et assatus, 
Sub ardore, sub labore, 
Dat odorem pleniorem 

Martyr de virtutibus." 

(3) The late Rev. S. W. Dufneld essayed a translation, pre- 
serving the original measure, thus — 

" These are the latter times ; these are not better times ; 
Let us stand waiting ; 
lio ! how, with a wf illness, He, first in lawfulness, 
Comes arbitrating/' 

W Of the Stabat Mater (Dolorosa) Dr. Schaff says: "It is 
the most pathetic . . . hymn of the Middle Ages, and oc- 
cupies second rank in Latin hymnology. Suggested by the in- 
cident related in John xix, 25, and the prophecy of Simeon 
(Luke ii, 35), it describes, with overpowering effect, the pierc- 
ing agony of Mary at the cross, and the burning desire to be 
identified with her, by sympathy, in the intensity of her grief. 
It furnished the text for the noblest musical compositions of 
Palestrina, Pergolesi, Haydn, and others. . . . The soft, sad 
melody of its verse is untranslatable." 

( 5 ) The Stabat Mater (Speciosa) was brought to public 
notice through the researches of A. F. Ozanam (1852), and 
introduced more particularly to American readers by Dr. 
Philip Schaff, in an article in " Hours at Home," May, 1867. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



283 



The question of authorship is not settled, and Dr. Coles argues 
a twofold authorship of the hymns from internal evidence. 

( 6 ) Quoted from Mrs. Charles's "Voice of Christian Life in 
Song," one of the most scholarly and interesting works on the 
subject of hymnology. 

CHAPTER V. 

0) Methodist Hymnal, No. 911. The two martyrs referred 
to are Henry Voes and John Esch, whose martyrdom took 
place in 1523. After the fires were kindled, they repeated the 
Apostles' Creed, sang the " Te Deum" and prayed in the 
flames: "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy upon us!" 
The original poem consists of twelve nine-line stanzas, and 
begins — 

" Ein neues Liied wir heben an." 

The tenth stanza is the basis of the hymn quoted. Professor 
Bayne, in his recent Life of Luther, speaks of it as a " bal- 
lad — rugged, indeed, and with little grace or ornament of com- 
position, but tingling, every line of it, with sincerity and in- 
tensity." The meter is preserved in the following: 

"With joy they stepped into the flame, 
God's praises calmly singing. 
Strange pangs of rage, amazement, shame 
The sophists' heai'ts are wringing ; 
For God they feel is here." 

( 2 ) Methodist Hymnal, No. 166. The imagery of the hymn 
is derived from the forty-sixth Psalm. The hymn has com- 
monly been assigned to 1529 ; but the recent discovery of a 
print dating apparently from February, 1528, has led Kos- 
tlin to assign the hymn to 1527, the year of the pestilence, 
and of Luther's severest spiritual and physical trials. Dr. 
Bayne says of Luther's hymns: " It may be said generally that 
they are characterized by a rugged but fundamentally melo- 
dious rhythm, a piercing intensity and expressiveness, with 
tender, lovely, picturesque touches here and there. Above 
all, they are sincere. They seem to thrill with an intensity of 
feeling beyond their power of expression, like the glistening 
of stars whose silence speaks of God." 

W Methodist Hymnal, No. 569. The authorship of this 
hymn was long ascribed to Altenburg, a pastor in Thuringia ; 
but recent researches, according to Miss Winkworth, have 



284 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



made it clear that he only composed the chorale, and that the 
hymn itself was written down roughly by Gustavus himself, 
after his victory at Leipsic, and reduced to regular verse by 
his chaplain, Dr. Fabricius, for the use of the army. 

^Translated by Miss Winkworth in "Lyra Gerrnanica," 
second series, beginning, "Now lay me calmly in the grave." 

W Methodist Hymnal, No. 694. The translation consists of 
eleven stanzas. 

(^Interesting and beautiful as the story is, it has to be 
said that Gerhard's ministry did not close in Berlin until 1667, 
and that the hymn was in existence in 1666. Kubler says it 
was first published in 1659. 

(7) Methodist Hymnal, Nos. 119, 478. It is said that most of 
Scheffler's hymns were written before he entered the Roman 
communion. Schultze, a German missionary in Madras, in 
1722, translated Scheffler's " Liebe, die der mich zum Bilde " 
into Tamil for his people, and it so delighted them that he 
translated more than one hundred of the best German hymns 
for their use, and they are still sung in South India. 

WMiss Winkworth says: "His hymns have great beauty, 
and bespeak a tranquil and child-like soul, filled and blessed 
with the contemplation of God." 

( 9 ) Zinzendorf was a prolific writer. He is said to have 
composed about two thousand hymns, many of which were 
produced extemporaneously. The Brethren took them down 
and preserved them. Zinzendorf says of them, in speaking of 
his services at Berlin: "After the discourse, I generally an- 
nounce another hymn appropriate. When I can not find one, 
I compose one ; I say, in the Savior's name, what comes into 
my heart." Quoted by Josiah Miller. 

( 10 ) Methodist Hymnal, No. 1086. For an account of his 
life and criticism of his style, see Longfellow's "Poets and 
Poetry of Europe," p. 267. 

Methodist Hymnal, Nos. 755, 1010. The original of 
this last hymn was sung at the grave of the author when he 
was buried. A favorite pastime with Dr. Spitta was to sing in 
the evening, with his two daughters, hymns and tunes of his 
own composing, and so attractive was this performance that 
crowds were wont to gather at his window to listen. 

< 12 J Methodist Hymnal, No. 993. This hymn was used at 
the funeral of the translator, Dr. Bethune, who died in 1862. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 285 



t 13 ^The German version is by Albert Knapp: " Nein, nein, 
das ist kein Sterben." Duffield ("English Hymns") inti- 
mates that Malan's hymn was a version of Knapp's, and not, 
as Dr. Hemenway implies (whose view is also Dr. Schaff's, see 
"Gesangbuch" and "Christ in Song"), the other way. 

CHAPTER VI. 

W Methodist Hymnal, No. 152. The second verse of the 
hymn, as written by Sternhold, was: 

"On cherubs and on cherubims 
Fall royally he rode, 
And on the wings of all the winds 
Came flying all abroad." 

Duffield says it is related of the learned Scaliger — whether 
father or son is not stated — that he would rather have been 
the author of this stanza than to have written his own works. 

<" 2> Methodist Hymnal, No. 11. This was the first British 
composition to which the tune "Old Hundred" was united, 
and, as is seen, gave its own name to the tune. The author- 
ship is contested, Duffield, in his "English Hymns," assigning 
it to John Hopkins, who, with Sternhold, Kethe, and others, 
published a rendering of the Psalms. 

r3) Methodist Hymnal, No. 156. Under the persecution of 
James VI., six ministers were banished for their independence 
of the Establishment, and were taken to Leith for embarka- 
tion. On the shore the parting from friends and dear ones 
was most touching. All joined in singing this psalm accord- 
ing to the quaint version, two verses of which are: 

•'He doth me fold in cotes most safe, 
The tender grass fast by; 
And after driv'th me to the streams 
Which run most pleasantly. 



And though 1 were even at death's door, 

Yet would I fear none ill ; 
For by thy rod and shepherd's crook, 

I am comforted still." 

f4 >See Chapter III. 

( 5 )The hymn "How are thy servants blest, Lord!" is 
usually called the "Traveler's Hymn." It was composed on 
shipboard during a terrific storm, in which all was given up for 



286 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



lost. While the captain, in terror, was confessing his sins to 
a Capuchin friar, Addison was solacing himself with the com- 
position of this song of praise and trust. 

( 6 ) Methodist Hymnal, No. 669. This is part of a poem of 
eight double stanzas, beginning, "My whole, though broken, 
heart, Lord," and entitled, "The Covenant and Confidence 
of Faith." It has this note appended: "This covenant my 
dear wife, in her former sickness, subscribed with a cheerful 
will. Job xii, 26." The hymn was a favorite with the em- 
inent scientist Clerk Maxwell, who frequently repeated it dur- 
ing his last illness. 

(") Methodist Hymnal, No. 268. Considerably altered, and 
for the better, by John Wesley. 

W Methodist Hymnal, No. 666. The first verse originally 
stood : ' * 

"Shall Simon bear thy cross alone, 
And other saints be free? 
Each saint of thine shall find his own, 
And there is one for me." 

( 9) Methodist Hymnal, No. 969. For an interesting ac- 
count of the evolution of this hymn, see article by Rev. C. S. 
Nutter, author of " Hymn Studies," in New York Christian Ad- 
vocate of August 26, 1886. 

( 10 ) Methodist Hymnal, No. 1044. The hymn has been 
traced to the collection of " Williams and Boden" (1801), where 
it is credited to the Eckington Collection. Dufiield conjectures 
that as Rev. James Boden, one of the editors, lived and died 
near Eckington, Yorkshire, this may have been his version of 
"F. B. P.'s" hymn. For a fine critical and historical sketch 
of this famous hymn see W. C. Prime's monograph, "O 
mother dear, Jerusalem" (New York, 3d edition, 1865). The 
Latin hymn referred to as given by Daniel ( Thesaurus Hymno- 
logicus) consists of forty-eight lines, and begins: 

Urbs beata Ierusalem dicta pacis visio. 

The "F. B. P." version, as given by Dr. Bonar, opens: 

" Hierusalem, my happy home, 
When shall I come to thee? 
When shall my sorrows have an end? 
Thy joys when shall I see?" 

and contains tw T enty-six stanzas. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



287 



CHAPTER VII. 

Page 5. Wit is only proper to state that the assignment 
of this hymn to that occasion is based upon a tradition which, 
according to Dr. E. F. Hatfield, an authority on the subject, 
"is probably founded on the fact that the hymn appears as 
No. 1 of his first book." 

(' 2 )Dean Stanley, however, said of the same composition: 
"It is not only a hymn but a philosophical poem, disfigured, 
indeed, in parts by the anatomical allusions to the shrunk 
sinew, but filled, on the whole, with a depth and pathos which 
might well excite Watts to say that ' it was worth all the verses 
ne himself had written,' and induce Montgomery to compare 
it to the action of a lyrical drama." 

CHAPTER VIII. 
( 3 >See Chapter I, and note. 

( 4 ) The late Mr. George John Stevenson, of London, and 
one of the best informed Wesleyan hymnologists, entirely dis- 
credits this story as of "pure Yankee invention." There is 
certainly nothing in the hymn itself to indicate that the inci- 
dent, if it had any existence at all, inspired the song. The 
hymn is found in "Hymns and Sacred Poems," 1740; bears 
the title, "In Temptation," and has five verses. The third 
verse, usually omitted from collections, runs : 

" Wilt thou not regard my call? 

Wilt thou not accept my prayer? 

Lo ! I sink, I faint, I fall ! 
Lo ! on thee I cast my care ! 

Reach me out thy gracious hand, 
While 1 of thy strength receive ; 

Hoping against hope, I stand- 
Dying, and behold I live ;" 

and hints that the Scriptural suggestion is Matt, xiv, 28, se.q. 
In temper and treatment the hymn is eminently contempla- 
tive and subjective, the very opposite of which might be ex- 
pected from the spring-house episode. 



Lectures ar)d S^rir>or)S. 

EDITED BY 

REV. A. W. PATTEN, D. D. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



UT of the great number of Dr. Hemen way's lectures, 



Vy sermons, and addresses only a few have been selected 
for publication, for the reason that most of the material 
was in the form of skeleton and syllabus for class-room 
work. The lectures on Pastoral Theology and Biblical In- 
troduction were those by which the Doctor most strongly 
impressed his students. It is, therefore, much to be re- 
gretted that we can not present these lectures in a com- 
pleted form. His broad outlook as to the nature of a 
Methodist preacher's work, and his power as a preacher, 
may be vividly recalled by the selections given. 




AMOS W. PATTEN. 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



i. 

SPECIAL QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED FOR 
A METHODIST PASTOR. 

THE general qualifications demanded in a Chris- 
tian pastor are clearly indicated by the nature of 
his office. He represents Christ. He is to the flock, 
in some sense, instead of Christ. He is in the place 
of Him who possessed a perfect manhood. By what 
he is and by what he does he is seeking to bring 
humanity nearer this perfect model. To stand be- 
tween Christ and his church, and to represent Christ 
to his church, calls for the highest qualities of body, 
mind, and soul. 

But it is the object of this paper to indicate not 
the general qualifications needed in a Christian pas- 
tor, but the special qualifications demanded in a 
Methodist pastor. 

I. Acquaintance and Sympathy with the 
History of Methodism. 

Each of the great denominations, doubtless, has 
its providential mission. It exists not by the caprice 
or cunning or obstinacy of men, but by the will of 
God. It is the product of forces divinely originated, 

291 



292 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 

which could not find vent, and so created new organs 
of development. It is but reasonable to conclude 
that each of the great Christian denominations ex- 
presses some idea — presents some phase of Christian- 
ity more perfectly than any other; and there is no 
reason to doubt that all together may at last conspire 
to work out a more perfect Christianity than the 
world has yet seen. Under God's providence, men 
are often conducted to results of the value and bless- 
edness of which they themselves had formed no an- 
tecedent conception. So, as I can not doubt, many 
denominational movements have been providentially 
originated and conducted with a view to results far 
higher and broader than the chief actors in them 
ever dreamed of. 

Their leaders have builded wiser than they knew. 
Men have had their will in them, but God has also 
had his. Honest and devoted men, under some 
special inspiration, have hewn out some beautiful 
pillar of Christian faith, and God has builded it 
into his great spiritual temple. They have originated 
some sweet and simple melody, thinking thereby 
only to express their own experience more correctly, 
and God has made it one strain in the universal 
harmony. At the cost of much toil, suffering, and 
perhaps persecution, they succeed in opening a new 
channel by which the water of life may come to 
some land which before has been " dry and thirsty." 
God adopts it as a part of that network of gracious 
supply which shall ultimately spread the world over. 

Hence each denomination has an individual char- 
acter. It is distinguished from all others, not only 



METHODIST PASTOR'S QUALIFICATIONS. 293 



in men's minds, but also in God's mind. It has not 
only a different creed, polity, name, manner of work, 
but, deeper down than these, a different genius, a 
different consciousness, and so a different mission. 
Believing, then, that this consciousness may differ in 
some degree from that developed in other branches 
of the church and yet be Christian, and so this mis- 
sion divine, it follows that every minister who would 
be an organ of this denominational life should par- 
take of this consciousness and recognize this mission. 
He has no right to bear the name of a denomination 
with which he is not in sympathy. He has no right 
to assume to do what he is incapable of doing — to 
seem to be what he is not. 

It is, then, making no narrow or bigoted claim 
that a Methodist pastor should be a Methodist ; that 
he should be familiar with this chapter in ecclesias- 
tical history; that he should understand the genius 
of Methodism, and be himself a partaker of it ; 
in short, he should comprehend this great spiritual 
movement, and feel that some of its springs are in 
his own nature. In this he goes down below all 
questions of polity, economy, or even doctrine ; he 
leaves out of sight the phenomena which this new 
force has actually produced in its historic develop- 
ment, to fasten upon the essence of the movement — 
the principle in which all these new laws and regu- 
lations had their origin — the force which originated 
these phenomena, but which, under other circum- 
stances, might produce other and different results. 

I repeat, then, in order to be fit to be a pastor 
in the Methodist Church a man should understand 



294 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



and appreciate Methodism — its dignity, its divine 
significance, its achievements of good, its adaptation 
to the wants of men, and so its promise of good 
in the future. He needs to see clearly and feel pro- 
foundly that this great movement is a God-originated 
one ; that it has, under God, given such an impulse 
to Christian feeling on all sides as to become (as 
the Churchman, Isaac Taylor, has characterized it) 
" the starting-point of our modern religious history ; 
that the field-preaching of Wesley and Whitefield in 
1739 was the event whence the religious epoch now 
current must date its commencement ; that back to 
the events of that time must we look necessarily as 
often as we seek to trace to its source what is most 
characteristic of the present time; and that yet this 
is not all, for the Methodism of the past age points 
forward to the next coming development of the pow- 
ers of the gospel." 

Especially does he need to see that Methodism 
was not the product of merely mechanical forces or of 
ingenious expedients; that it did not result from any 
particular economy or manner of work, as itinerant 
or lay preaching, for example, though its spirit may 
have found its natural expression in these, and the 
movement may have been greatly indebted to these 
instrumentalities; that it was not the work of any 
man or set of men, and so due to their sagacity, fidel- 
ity, zeal, or knowledge of evangelistic truth ; but 
that it was eminently a providential movement, the 
product of spiritual forces — the inspiration of that 
infinite, life-giving spirit under whose influence all 
the vital forces of the church are originated. Hence 



METHODIST PASTOR'S QUALIFICATIONS. 295 



it must be understood, as Isaac Taylor has so well 
characterized it, as resulting from a direct, earnest 
appeal to the religious consciousness, such as is char- 
acteristic of the teaching of Christ and his apostles, 
holding up every man, in the solitude of his own in- 
dividuality, to the scrutiny of conscience and the 
searching glance of the omniscient eye. It was a 
simple preaching of the gospel, the great truths of 
which were emphasized and reiterated until they 
came to sink into the hearts of those who heard. It 
was a great movement of evangelistic philanthropy. 
It proceeded, with some measure of consistency, on 
the assumption that man needs the gospel, and that 
the gospel is for man. The inestimable worth of man 
and the fearfulness of the ruin to which he is ex- 
posed were on one side, and the ineffable love of 
God, as revealed in an atoning Savior, on the other. 
Methodism, in the simplest manner, with downright- 
ness and earnestness, sought to bring these two coun- 
terparts together. 

My brethren, let us see to it that this prime qual- 
ification for exercising a pastorate in the Methodist 
Church be ours. Let us strive to follow worthily in 
the footsteps of the fathers. The product of our 
preaching is not to be theology merely, but religion. 
Our business is not to instruct men as an end, but to 
save them. Fall into the history of Methodism. 
Catch the inspiration of this grand evangelic move- 
ment. Tone up your souls by studying the lives of 
the fathers. Practice the same simplicity, earnest- 
ness, directness, evangelic intensity which God so 
honored in Wesley's time. As we stand up to preach 



296 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



to the people, let us remember that, in the case of 
many of them, we have "but a half hour out of the 
week to raise the dead in," and let this reflection in- 
spire us to strike our most telling blows for God and 
truth and souls. Then shall every sermon be a battle, 
short, sharp, decisive, victorious. 

II. Acquaintance and Sympathy with the 
Doctrines of Methodism. 

Methodism was not primarily a doctrinal move- 
ment. It did not result in any measure from an at- 
tempt to readjust the doctrinal statements of Chris- 
tianity. And yet there has never, in the whole his- 
tory of the Christian Church, been a more marked 
individuality of doctrine than among the people 
called Methodists. Their real creed is a very short 
and simple one; but they unite upon it, and it has 
contributed much to their marvelous success. It may 
be characterized as evangelical universalism. It rec- 
ognizes the all-fatherhood of God, a truth obscured 
by Augustinianism and perverted by Universalism ; 
the essential and so the universal freedom and account- 
ability of man; the universal prevalence of sin, and 
the consequent utter helplessness of humanity ; and the 
all-embracing atonement of Christ] providing a full 
salvation for every man. This system antagonizes the 
Augustinian doctrine of election at every point, while 
it emphasizes the spiritual privileges of the believer. 
It agrees, however, with Augustinianism as against 
Pelagianism in maintaining man's utter dependence 
for all good upon the grace of God. This system of 
doctrine, then, is evangelical as against all rational- 



METHODIST PASTOR'S QUALIFICATIONS. 297 



istic schemes, and universal as against all partial sys- 
tems. With Protestants in general, we reject all 
papal additions to Christianity ; and with all evan- 
gelical Christians, we agree in our beliefs as to a 
future state. 

Such is the doctrinal position of Methodism. It 
makes little of the philosophical aspect of theology, 
but much of its practical aspect. It assumes that 
every characteristic doctrine of Christianity is for the 
sake of bringing men to salvation ; that the doctrines 
and ordinances, as well as the living members of the 
church of Christ, all join in one grand, universal, im- 
partial invitation, "Come to Jesus" With these doc- 
trines every Methodist pastor should be in sympathy. 
There must be in him no theological exclusiveness. 
He must cherish no restricted views of the grace of 
God. He must indulge no proclivities to bring 
merely -speculative notions into his public teaching; 
for Methodism is in its genius eminently simple and 
practical. Especially must his words give no uncer- 
tain sound as to the general doctrines of grace. He 
must give no man any excuse for confounding Wes- 
leyanism with semi-Pelagianism. He must always 
assume that all souls belong to God. He must see in 
every man the purchase of the Redeemer's agony. 
He must set forth the infinite fullness of provision 
made for the spiritual wants of men. He must make 
every man feel that if he dies eternally, it will be as 
a spiritual suicide ; that if he plunges into perdition, 
it will be because he would not plunge into " the 
fountain filled witli blood." 

20 



298 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



III. Acquaintance and Sympathy with the 
Polity and Usages of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. 

This polity is at once simple and complicated — 
simple in principle, but complicated in outward ex- 
pression and adjustment. The one principle of which 
it is the outgrowth is that of bringing all agencies of 
the church to bear upon all classes in the church, and 
to secure for all efficient pastoral care and oversight. 
The development of this polity has proceeded in the 
light of Scriptural and ecclesiastical precedent and 
practical expediency. The result is a polity which, 
for variety and completeness of detail, has no equal 
among Protestant churches. But all this machinery 
is intended for a living, militant church, and so is en- 
tirely unsuited for one non-aggressive and dead. The 
adjustments of the Methodist Church will be a yoke 
of bondage to every unspiritual member ; and espe- 
cially so to a pastor in whose heart the flame of spir- 
itual and aggressive piety does not burn brightly. 
The armor and discipline suited to war will only be 
burdensome to an ease-loving, non-resisting, compro- 
mising, contented advocate of peace. 

And so the Methodist minister should understand 
and appreciate the economy of his own church — not 
merely its external, formal, and mechanical details, 
but its genius and spirit, its reason and principle. 
And he should be loyal to it — not, by any means, 
that it is perfect, and so changeless; nor even that it 
is the best possible, but as having much experience 



METHODIST PASTOR'S QUALIFICATIONS. 299 



and success in its favor, and so not to be hastily and 
crudely tinkered. 

IY. Faith in the Mission of Methodism. 

"It is impossible to be a hero in anything unless 
one is first a hero in faith/' " Fields are won only 
by those who believe in the winning." To be an 
efficient agent of Methodism, one must have faith in 
the mission of Methodism. We can only do our 
utmost to give Methodism to the world under the 
profound conviction that the world needs it. This 
conviction should be deeper than any that can be 
begotten by a knowledge of the marvelous successes 
of the past. It should spring from a recognition of 
the thorough fitness of this type of Christianity to 
meet a great and pressing demand. The results al- 
ready garnered may well be accepted as a confirma- 
tory comment on our conclusions touching this mat- 
ter; but I would look deeper than these results for 
the firm basis of our faith. Does humanity need to 
be elevated? What will do this so certainly as that 
bringing of each individual soul into a sense of free- 
dom, and so accountability before God, which is 
characteristic of all Methodist preaching? What 
will give a man to feel the dignity and inestimable 
worth of his own nature so fully as to show him the 
place he occupies in the impartial love of the infinite 
Father and the impartial grace of the divine Savior? 
What do guilty men so need to see as the cross? 
What does wretched and despairing man so need to 
know as that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, 
tasted death for every man? And what means so 



300 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 

effectual in publishing these great central, vital truths 
of religion as those which Methodism employs? 

V. The Methodist Pastor needs Some Spe- 
cial Practical Adaptations. 

1. To the Masses. 

It has thus far been the peculiar glory of Meth- 
odism that it is a religion of the people. Hence the 
man who is fitted for her ministry must be capable 
of adjusting himself not to the learned merely, the 
rich, the aristocratic, the luxurious and ease-loving, 
but to the common people — the hard-working, prac- 
tical masses, who make up the bone and sinew of 
society. He must not be dainty and fastidious in his 
tastes. He must ba capable of wielding an influence 
over men incapable of judging of the quality of his 
culture and indifferent to the beauty of his diction — 
men who may judge very correctly as to the soul and 
essence of his teaching, but have no appreciation of 
hair-splitting distinctions and fine-spun theories. In 
short, he should aim at popular power. For, while 
it is the cry of monarchists across the water, "God 
save the king/" and of timid and time-serving eccle- 
siastics, "God save the church/" — of demagogues and 
"politicians, "God save the party/" and of patriots, 
"God save our country/" let it be the cry of Meth- 
odists everywhere, " God save the people /" for if 
they are saved, everything else worth saving will be 
saved also. 

There is a kind of clerical exclusiveness which 
many indulge or affect, and which stands in direct 
opposition to this practical adaptation of which I 



METHODIST PASTOR'S QUALIFICATIONS. 301 

speak. There are some clergymen of what George 
MacDonald calls " the pure, honest, and narrow type/' 
who seem, in every point and line of their counte- 
nances, marked as priests, and apart from their 
fellow-men. By their dress, the tones of their voice, 
and their general demeanor, they seem to say: "Stand 
by yourself! Come not near me, for I am holier 
than thou." They are, they would seem to say, to 
common men as the Sabbath to common days, or the 
church to common houses; but, more correctly, they 
are like funerals to common events, or corpses to 
living men. In the unsullied whiteness and un- 
wrinkled blackness of their costumes, in their cold 
stateliness of aspect and their hollow and priestly 
tones, they remind us of death rather than life — of 
the dark and solemn under-world rather than the 
bright and joyous heaven to which it is their busi- 
ness to invite men. They move among men with a 
mingled pomposity and solemnity, "as if the care of 
the whole world lay on their shoulders — as if an 
awful destruction were the most likely thing to hap- 
pen to every one, while to them is committed the 
toilsome chance of saving some." As they enter the 
places where men congregate — market, shop, railway 
depot, public hall — the language of their manner is, 
"Procul, procul, prof anil" When they speak to 
common men, they either patronize them or tol- 
erate them, or endure; and, manifestly, it is with a 
very generous and praiseworthy patience. They seem 
to imagine that their ministerial duties are to be done 
in a mechanical way; that men are to be regenerated 
by their magical priestly touch, or their lofty and 



302 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



impressive ceremonials; and so their whole life seems 
to flow out through these channels. 

This type of men, though found in every denom- 
ination, have certainly no legitimate place in the 
Methodist ministry. They are made up in about 
equal parts of Puritanism and ecclesiasticism, and are 
thoroughly out of harmony with the genius and spirit 
of the Methodist denomination. The Methodist min- 
ister must be every inch a man. He must be ready 
to give to other men his hand and his heart. He 
should be most broadly, profoundly, and intensely 
human. Not by pompous ceremonial and cold and 
formal utterances will he seek to save men, but by 
vital influences. 

2. To the Itinerancy. 

As not every good Christian would be suited to, 
or by, the Methodist Church, so not every good min- 
ister would be suited to our peculiar system of itin- 
erancy. It imposes marked and peculiar conditions 
of ministerial service. It requires a man to maintain 
a monkish abstinence from worldly entanglements, 
and yet allows him to be burdened with domestic 
cares. He may have a family, but they can have no 
home except that blessed home whose walls are built 
of the affections of loving hearts. He must form, 
and cherish warm attachments to people from whom 
he is soon to be separated. His aflections must take 
quick root, and not unfrequently deep root, in a soil 
from which they must erelong be torn away. He 
must surrender into the hands of others some of the 
most interesting and important questions of life. It 
must be decided for him, and not by him, ivhere he 



METHODIST PASTORS QUALIFICATIONS. 303 



will labor. It must be determined for him, and not 
by him, what shall be his compensation for labor and 
what the conditions of his labor. And sometimes it 
may seem to him that these questions are wrongly 
and even unworthily decided; that men, under the 
influence of low and selfish motives, have improperly 
interfered with decisions on which his usefulness and 
the welfare and comfort of his family depend. 

Thus unqualifiedly to commit our dearest inter- 
ests, and, what is more, the interests of those dearest 
to us on earth, into the keeping of others, demands 
the fullest faith in God and the fullest faith in men. 
A timid, suspicious, morbidly sensitive temper would 
not be consistent with the conditions of this service. 
There are those whose affections are like hooks of 
steel, and yet they are so sensitive that the slightest 
breath will throw them into painful agitation. Such 
men, especially if at all disposed to bitterness or jeal- 
ousy, would endure the friction of our itinerancy 
badly. The local attachments of some men are so 
strong as, in some measure, to disqualify them. Lack 
of either physical, mental, or moral stamina may unfit 
a man for this life of hardship and heroism. Indeed, 
the Methodist itinerancy is related to what are called 
settled pastorates, much as the life of the soldier is 
related to that of a civilian, and the special qualities 
and conditions demanded are clearly and fairly indi- 
cated by this comparison. 

3. To the Methodist Pulpit. 

The Methodist pulpit, however numerous and 
marked may be the individual exceptions, is a place 
where the gospel is preached earnestly, plainly, point- 



304 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



edly, and effectively. It is not a place for essays, the- 
ological, moral, literary, or any other kind. It is not 
a place for lectures or orations, either religious or po- 
litical. It is not a place for abstrusities, profundities, 
or platitudes. It is not a place for dry and harsh 
polemics. It is not a theater for oratorical display — 
for intellectual gymnastics or mere word-painting. 
The preaching of the Methodist pulpit should not 
bristle with hard, naked, angry propositions. It 
must not be narrow, dry, hard, nor cold; nothing 
suited to the select few merely, but to all. It must 
not address the intellectual nature mainly, but the 
spiritual nature. Its profiting must be seen, not in 
the world that now is, but in that which is to come. 

If it be said that all these characteristics pertain 
to the Christian pulpit as such, in whatever denomi- 
nation, I reply that they pertain, in an eminent degree, 
to the characteristic Methodist pulpit. And there are 
many who would be acceptable in other pulpits who 
would not be acceptable in ours, as there are also 
many who do effective work among us, but would 
not be so successful in any other denomination. 

To be best suited to our pulpit, a man must be 
positive in his convictions, fervid in his feelings, plain 
and downright in speech, and simple in manner; of 
broad sympathies, and capable of wielding a fair 
measure of popular influence. Extemporaneousness 
of address is naturally associated with these qualities, 
and they express themselves most perfectly in this 
way, and yet I can not write it down as in the highest 
and most absolute sense essential. 

Such are some of the special qualifications needed 



METHODIST PASTOR'S QUALIFICATIONS. 305 



for the pastoral work in the Methodist Church. But 
I will not refrain from adding that these must be al- 
lowed, in no manner, to set aside, or supersede or 
atone for the absence of, the still broader and more 
fundamental qualifications which are needed in a 
Christian paster. It will be a sad day for us and for 
religion when our ministry becomes more Methodistic 
than Christian, more Wesleyan than Protestant, more 
effective for denominational propagandism than for 
Christian evangelization. Loyalty to the denomina- 
tion should be simply the outflowing of that still 
deeper and more all-comprehending loyalty to Christ, 
to conscience, and to truth. Adhering to this prin- 
ciple, we shall, in our measure and in our special 
department of influence, help the Church to realize 
that beautiful description of the poet Montgomery : 

" Distinct as the billows, but one as the sen." 



306 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



II. 

RITUALISM IN THE METHODIST EPIS= 
COPAL CHURCH. 

I USE this term, not in its narrow and technical 
sense, but in the broad and comprehensive sense 
of order in religious service; and, hence, as opposed 
to all dispositions and tendencies to subject such 
service to the whims or caprices, the carelessness or 
the ignorance, of him who may happen to have it in 
charge. The apostle does indeed direct us to " turn 
away " from such as have the " form of godliness, but 
deny the power thereof but it would be a strange 
and unwarrantable inference from this, that we have 
any right to be indifferent to decent and appropriate 
forms in religion. On the other hand, this passage 
itself implies that the form of godliness is a matter 
of distinct and important notice — indeed, that it is so 
good that there may be danger of substituting it for 
the substance. The question in this matter is not be- 
tween forms and no forms, for nothing real and actual 
can be without some type or mode of development ; 
it is rather between a good form and a bad or indif- 
ferent one. A tree can not grow without assuming 
some shape; a river can not flow without selecting 
some course ; so religious service can not proceed 
without taking some definite order, which, by long 
custom, will come to be an established form. 



RITUALISM. 



307 



And this is a feeling that holds with all classes 
alike. The Non-conformists of Great Britain came 
at last to insist on their Non-conformist usages with 
almost the same rigidity and intolerance that had 
been exhibited by the Conformists themselves. The 
old Covenanters of Scotland were even more inflex- 
ible in their demands that no religious service should 
be said at the open graves of the departed, than are 
the members of the Church of England in theirs, that 
in every instance must the rites of the church be per- 
formed over the baptized dead. There is a denomi- 
nation of Christians in this country who would regard 
it a sacrilege, never to be forgotten or forgiven, if the 
minister should introduce into divine service a single 
one of the sacred Psalms in Watts's metrical version. 
There are many single churches in this country, and 
even whole denominations of churches, who would 
be quite as much shocked and surprised, should the 
minister, to their knowledge, make use of a single 
previously composed prayer, as would the High- 
churchman should the priest extemporize a portion 
of the liturgy. Even minor peculiarities among those 
who dissent from the doctrine that the church must 
fix the forms of worship, and dictate the language of 
prayer and praise, confession and profession, come to 
be invested with the same sacredness and are clung 
to with the same tenacity, as ritualistic forms them- 
selves. A Presbyterian minister who should go on 
his knees in public prayer, in the presence of his con- 
gregation, would do so at the imminent risk of posi- 
tion, reputation, and usefulness. Were a Methodist 
minister to practice uttering a brief invocation, as he 



308 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



stands up to read the opening hymn in the Sabbath 
morning service, he would be almost sure to lose 
caste by it to some extent, and to incur the charge, 
which would sooner or later come to him, of being 
" half-Presbyterianized." So jealously do the people 
regard even those peculiarities which, to an outside 
observer, would seem to have the smallest possible 
value and significance. Hence, then, I repeat it — the 
question is not whether there shall be set and estab- 
lished forms in religious service, but it is simply 
whether these forms shall be good or bad, appro- 
priate or inappropriate; and, also, to how great an 
extent these can be adjusted beforehand. Hence, 
then, there is much practical importance investing 
this question of order in religious service, and it most 
certainly demands the careful attention of every one 
called to direct the worship of the sanctuary. 

I. First, then, let us briefly consider this subject 
as connected with the ordinary services of public 
worship on the Lord's-day. The Disciplinary direc- 
tions are : " Let the morning service consist of sing- 
ing, prayer, the reading of a chapter out of the Old 
Testament and another out of the New, and preach- 
ing. Let the afternoon service consist of singing, 
prayer, the reading of one or two chapters out of the 
Bible, and preaching. Let the evening service con- 
sist of singing, prayer, and preaching. 7 ' Let 
the Lord's Prayer also be used on all occasions of 
public worship in concluding the first prayer, and 
the Apostolic Benediction in dismissing the con- 
gregation." In addition, every minister is charged 
to choose appropriate hymns, and not to " sing 



RITUALISM. 



309 



too much at once ; seldom more than four or five 
verses." 

Such is, substantially, the sum of the Disciplinary 
directions on this subject. It will at once be seen 
that in reference to some points usually deemed im- 
portant, and even some that most would hold essen- 
tial, there are no directions given. For instance, we 
are not told what services should follow the sermon — 
whether prayer, singing, and benediction ; or, singing, 
prayer, and benediction ; or, prayer and benediction ; 
or, singing and benediction ; or, the benediction alone. 
We are not told what posture the minister shall as- 
sume — whether he shall stand in prayer and benedic- 
tion, or kneel in prayer and benediction, or kneel in 
prayer and stand in the benediction. There are one 
or two general directions given in reference to public 
religious service, that are not without value, which 
are well worthy of careful attention by every minis- 
ter, old and young. To some of these I may refer 
farther along. In the light of the Discipline and ex- 
perience we are able, then, to read certain rules which 
should govern a preacher in this matter. 

1. Obey the specific directions of Discipline, so far 
as they are at all applicable to your circumstances. I 
append this modifying clause because there are, mani- 
festly, some clauses in these articles on public worship 
not adapted to every case. In such cases it is Method- 
istic to retain the spirit of the rule, even if compelled 
to depart from the letter. A general model is held 
up to view, which it is our business to imitate so far 
as practicable. Many of us, for instance, have no 
afternoon service, but do have an evening service. 



310 



LECTURES AND SERMONS 



Which shall govern us — the directions for afternoon 
or evening? Afternoon, I should say, as being the 
second and important service of the day. If the 
services are at different places, I would not omit the 
reading of the Scripture at any service. 

2. Be able to bear these parts assigned us by the 
Discipline well. The hymns should not only be care- 
fully selected, but the Scripture also, and both should 
be well read. It was said that multitudes used to at- 
tend upon the ministry of the eloquent Dr. Mason, 
of New York, just to enjoy his reading. Good read- 
ing is a charm in religious service which every one 
feels, and no preacher has a right to be indifferent to 
it. His reading may not be artistic — he may not 
have all the vocal graces of the actor or professional 
elocutionist — but a minister of the gospel has no ex- 
cuse for not exhibiting in his reading the excellent 
qualities so well set forth in the eighth verse of the 
eighth chapter of Is ehemiah : " So they read in the 
book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, 
and caused them to understand the reading." The 
minister should be able to recite the Lord's Prayer 
according to the form in the Methodist Ritual. This 
is a rare accomplishment. In my observation, cover- 
ing several years since my attention has become fixed 
on the point, I have heard less than a score of indi- 
viduals recite the Lord's Prayer with perfect accuracy. 
Not long since I raised the question in a select com- 
pany of ten ministers, several of them eminent, and 
not one of them could recite the Lord's Prayer ac- 
cording to the Methodist Ritual. I know of no ex- 
cuse for such carelessness in reference to a form that 



RITUALISM. 



311 



most of us use at least three hundred and sixty-five 
times in a year. 

3. The Discipline suggests attention to what may be 
denominated the proprieties of religious service : " Let 
your whole deportment be serious, weighty, solemn." 
The personal character, and manner, and spirit of the 
minister, have so much to do with the interest and 
profit of the sanctuary service, as to be worthy of the 
most careful attention. Among the most common 
faults here, some of which are expressly mentioned in 
the Discipline, are : 

(a) Egotism. A man's manner may announce his 
important self quite as distinctly as his words. And 
nothing can be more offensive. The man who, like 
iEsop's fly seated on the end of the axle, is contin- 
ually exclaiming, " See what a dust I raise or like 
the lily, who imagined that by retiring into its bulb 
it would take all the summer with it, — is capable of 
rendering religious service, which is otherwise en- 
tirely correct in form and respectable in talent, abso- 
lutely repulsive. 

(b) Another serious fault is Levity. I do not al- 
lude so much to that perverted taste that leads a 
minister to indulge in quaintness, eccentricity, puns, 
or even buffoonery in the sacred desk — for there are 
few, comparatively, capable of offending in this way — 
but to all disposition to treat religious service as a 
matter of little importance. This will show itself by 
haste, irreverence, flippancy, trifling thoughts and 
words, and especially by the use of sermons which 
are really impromptu, or are made to appear so. The 
preacher will sometimes find himself led to make use 



312 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



of a subject or train of remark hastily caught up, and 
sometimes very much to his own satisfaction and the 
profit of his audience, but this should be the excep- 
tion and never the rule. No minister, laboring in the 
ordinary routine of his profession, has a right to bring 
unbeaten oil into the sanctuary ; and to do so habit- 
ually, indicates unpardonable indolence and levity of 
character. 

(c) Affectation. " In man or woman, but most of 
all in man that ministers and serves the altar, in my 
very soul I loathe all affectation." It is a greater evil, 
because more offensive, than rudeness or awkwardness. 

So much has been written in reference to the gen- 
eral course of service in the Lord's house, assuming 
that the disciplinary directions are authoritative and 
infallible. If I may, however, travel si> far outside 
of my record as to inquire whether the order of serv- 
ice, laid down in the Discipline, is capable of im- 
provement, I should venture to suggest that my own 
taste and judgment would be much better satisfied 
were our service, like that of most other churches that 
have no liturgy, to commence with an invocation, and 
our sermons to close by prayer. I should be glad to 
commend this suggestion to him who is to represent 
us in the next General Conference. 

II. In the second department of my essay — which 
I here promise shall not be very extended — I propose 
some random suggestions bearing on our ritual proper. 
I doubt not, as it now stands, it is perfectly intelli- 
gible and easy to be conducted, and yet the cases in 
which its forms are used with perfect propriety and 
correctness are not numerous. 



RITUALISM. 



313 



1. There is a single point in the baptismal service, 
in reference to which I have noticed some confusion 
of usage : The people are directed to stand while the 
Scripture is read. When shall they sit down? 

2. Persons who receive baptism as adults answer 
to certain questions in the presence of the congrega- 
tion, and this is called their baptismal vow. Is there 
anything corresponding to this for those Avho were bap- 
tized in infancy? My own practice has been, and shall 
be until this is better provided for among us, to call 
forward such, with those about to be baptized, and have 
them respond to the questions with them. The only 
difference I make between them is, I do not ask them 
if they will be "baptized in this faith/ 7 and do not 
apply water to them. 

3. Are candidates for adult baptism expected to 
answer the questions at all ? I have seen these ques- 
tions proposed to persons that stood as immovable as 
statues; the answers were read to them, while they 
gave not the smallest token of assent in any form. 
I would in every instance have it understood before- 
hand, if practicable, and require each candidate to 
answer with his voice, and that not in unison, but 
singly and successively. 

4. Are our ceremonies in receiving persons into 
the church always as solemn and impressive as they 
should to be? Receiving persons to relations which 
may be changeless forever, is a very different matter 
from admitting them into a temperance society or 
Masonic lodge. And yet it is frequently one of the 
loosest and most careless services of the church. 

5. The form for the Holy Communion is probably 

21 



314 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



better observed than any other among us, because it 
is, in most cases, in the hands of experienced men ; 
and yet there are not wanting evils even here. 

(a) In most of our strong and well-established 
societies it is not administered with sufficient fre- 
quency. There is no reason why Baptists, Congrega- 
tionalists, and Presbyterians should commemorate 
Christ's death monthly, and Methodists only once a 
quarter. I think our churches would be profited by 
a more frequent observance of this ordinance. 

(b) It is frequently administered in such haste as ' 
to destroy, in a great measure, the interest of the oc- 
casion. 

(c) The beauty of the service is frequently greatly 
marred by random talking by those who are distrib- 
uting the elements. Better to confine yourself strictly 
to the form in the Discipline, than to say a careless 
or inappropriate word. 

(d) While much of the service may undoubtedly 
be omitted, it seems to me that not all the closing 
services should ever be omitted. 

6. The forms for Matrimony and the Burial of the 
Dead, as a matter of practice, I find myself obliged 
greatly to abridge, and in some instances to modify. 
They are adapted to more formal occasions than or- 
dinarily present themselves. I find my material in 
them, and seek to conform to their spirit; but can not 
always, consistently with my own views of propriety, 
conform strictly to their letter. 



OUTLOOK OF METHODISM. 



315 



III. 

OUTLOOK OF METHODISM. 

I DO not essay to predict what will be, but rather 
to point out what may be and ought to be. What 
will be depends, in great measure, on the sagacity, 
fidelity, and obedient service of men ; what ought to 
be is indicated by the providence of God. What has 
been and is, we know, though imperfectly; the one 
thing needful is, that we may have eyes to read its 
deep lessons aright. 

Methodism has thus far had a wonderful history — 
a history replete with the goodness of God and the 
heroism of men. Every impartial church historian 
will concede this, even though he may not fully sym- 
pathize with the movement. It is no arrogant claim 
to make, that Methodism has been selected by Provi- 
dence to do a work in developing Protestant Chris- 
tianity which could have been done by no other class 
of methods or agencies; as Isaac Taylor says: "The 
present religious epoch must, in some important 
sense, take its date from the field-preaching of the 
Wesleys." 

Notably is this true with regard to this country. 
It has achieved here a work which would have been 
impossible under, any other economy or any other 
class of men than such as Methodist preachers have 
been. The breadth of their theological views, their 



316 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



freedom from scholastic methods which separate from 
the people, their hearty sympathy with the masses, 
their fertility in expedients, their direct and down- 
right methods, and especially their singleness of aim 
in seeking and saving the lost, gave them a special 
adaptation for the work which they were called to do 
in this land. To no other class of men, and in par- 
ticular to no other class of ministers, is this nation so 
much indebted. Had it not been for such men and 
such methods, it is clearly to be seen that American 
history must have been very different from what it 
has been. All honor, then, to our fathers — those now 
lingering among us, as well as those who have passed 
on to their reward. The best we need to ask for our- 
selves is, that we may be worthy to follow in this 
high succession. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, especially in 
this Middle West and North-west, is now in a trans- 
ition state. This is true, not only in that sense which 
applies to every living organism at all times — for it 
is in the nature of life to manifest itself by working 
changes — but in that special sense which applies only 
to critical periods in the history of living organisms. 
Hitherto, in this region, the evangelistic aspect of our 
work has been most prominent. The typical Meth- 
odist minister has been a "circuit rider/' going from 
place to place, literally, to carry the good news of 
salvation. The rude, temporary churches, which 
sprung up everywhere in his path, in due time gave 
place to other churches ; also, for the most part tem- 
porary, but more attractive and commodious, and in- 
dicating a more advanced stage of church life. But ( 



OUTLOOK OF METHODISM. 



317 



recently, and particularly within the past dozen years, 
the third stage — that of maturity — has, in many places, 
been reached. The permanent church edifice has 
been built, often of brick or stone, and so complete 
in its appointments as to be adequate to the wants of 
a fully developed and well-organized church. All 
over the territory of this North-west stand beautiful 
churches, which represent an untold amount of toil, 
prayer, solicitude, sacrifice, and in many . instances 
positive suffering, on the part of the people. I know 
strong business men who have builded their lives into 
the church, as they have not done into their private 
business; who have expended on the house of God an 
amount of energy and painstaking which they have 
not bestowed on their private affairs. Now, the build- 
ing of this local church is the terminus ad quern as to 
material development ; if there be further progress, it 
must be in another and a still more important direc- 
tion. What is now needed is not so much develop- 
ment as strength; not so much the starting of new 
enterprises as the turning of old facilities to the 
richest spiritual account. The growth which the 
church now needs is not only extensive, but intensive ; 
not merely expansion, but depth and solidity. 

Definitely, then, what are the key-notes of our 
future progress? 

1. First of all, the time is now come for the best 
development of our local church life. Up to this 
time our poor societies — and all our societies are poor; 
the exceptions are so rare that we hardly need to take 
them into account at all — have been straining every 
nerve to solve that problem which Carlyle calls "the 



318 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 

first and simplest of all philosophy, that of keeping 
soul and body together." Like the rapidly growing 
boy, all their vitality has gone into their body, and 
they have had nothing left for the wants of their 
higher nature. But now the time has come for a 
higher life than that of the physical and material. 
The energy, which for so long has been expended in 
simply building up material organs of life, may now 
be available for higher uses. The outward growth 
must find its complement in inner growth. Hence, 
those organs of church life, such as class-meetings 
and other spiritual means and instrumentalities, may 
be turned to the richest account. Our class-meetings 
are a strange anomaly. They are our best and poorest 
meetings. Some of our members would have them 
distinguished from every * other class of religious 
duties, and made tests and standards of Christian 
character. This must be construed as indicating a 
possibility in this meeting which is not ordinarily re- 
alized. The time has now come w 7 hen all that is best 
in this meeting should again come to the front. We 
want in this meeting less of cant, and more of culture ; 
less of the mechanical, and more of the spiritual; less 
of old and stereotyped repetitions, and more of fresh 
and vital truth. The minister finds that his social 
meetings draw on him even more severely, in some 
directions, than his public w T ork. It is sometimes 
easier to preach a sermon, as sermons go, than to lead 
a prayer-meeting. And if the minister has any good 
thoughts, he is pretty sure to find good use for them 
in such meetings as bring him face to face with his 
fellows, with no barriers of office between. But the 



OUTLOOK OF METHODISM. 



319 



class-leader, who is often a man of no superior thought 
or culture, expects to keep up the spiritual interest 
of his class without special study or other means to 
qualify himself for his most sacred function. Is this 
reasonable? Do men, in these days, enjoy a special 
inspiration? Has not the time come when this most 
important class of men shall be more and better qual- 
ified for their pastoral work? * 

May not the financial life of the church be im- 
proved? Is it not still true that, in too many of our 
churches, we are " living from hand to mouth " in a 
most improvident way ? For the most part, these 
great and fundamental interests are managed as no 
one would think of managing his private business. 
A rare thing it is for a church to have a financial 
history which it is pleasant to contemplate. All this 
must be improved. Hitherto there may have been 
some excuse for confusion here, but now no longer. 
Let it be the definite ambition of each church to have 
a financial plan which they can work with good effect. 
It is by no means certain that just the same in all 
details is suited best to every locality ; there may be 
more or less variety, but there should be a plan, and 
it should be well worked. More truly than it was said 
with regard to governments, that " that which is best 
administered is best," may it be said as to plans of 
church finance, that that one is best which is best 
worked. What is most important is, that every 
church have a plan and adhere to it, and that the 
minister have as little to do 'with it as possible. 
Nothing is more unfortunate than for the financial 
life of a church to be tossed to and fro by successive 



320 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



pastors, who may each have his peculiar idiosyncrasy 
to illustrate. All the pastor can reasonably ask is 
that there be a plan, and that it be faithfully attended 
to. Inquire at the beginning of the year definitely 
what are to be the expenses, and then ask what sources 
of income shall be depended on to balance. Let 
nothing be left to that limbo of vague uncertainty to 
which such matters are too often relegated. Unless 
there is special reason for supposing that the church 
may, in the course of the year, strike a flowing well 
or a bonanza, let the question be persistently urged 
at the beginning of the year, until the receipts are 
made to balance the expenses. 

Another class of men who are to be reformed by 
the proper development of our local church life is 
local preachers. The Wesleyan idea of lay preaching 
is scarcely recognized or illustrated in some portions 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. All our local 
preachers are likely to be either embryo traveling 
ministers, or worn-out, unacceptable, or secularized 
preachers. Too rarely is it the case that a pastor, in 
going to a new charge, looks forward with any special 
hope or satisfaction to a large element of this kind in 
his officiary. In some cases these men called local 
preachers, instead of being in any special way helpers, 
are in a special way obstructionists. Instead of 
placing on the altar the offering of a holy, self-sac- 
rificing, cheerful service, they are spies, croakers, dead- 
weights, and yet in an official position. 

Is it too much to hope that this institution of lay 
preaching — which has in past time been thought so 
characteristic of Methodism and so potent for good, 



OUTLOOK OF METHODISM. 



321 



but which seems among us to have degenerated into 
utter insignificance — may be again elevated into its 
proper character? Now and then, outside of our de- 
nomination, do we have an example of really useful 
and influential lay preaching. The Moody movement 
has brought to the front a very considerable number 
of lay helpers, whose character and work answer more 
nearly to the Wesleyan pattern than anything which we, 
as a denomination, can show. And in some sections of 
our own church we have local preachers who are in 
every way ornaments and vindications of the office. 
The thing that is wanted is, that this institution may 
everywhere be brought back to its primitive efficiency. 
Our Young Men's Christian Associations illustrate, 
in many cases, the value of that which Methodism 
has almost allowed to die on her hands. 

2. Another direction in which we are to make 
progress is in the religious care of our children. The 
saddest fact that confronts a pastor of experience in 
the church is that, in too many cases, the most im- 
portant of his religious families run out, so far as the 
church is concerned. The second or third generation 
is entirely graceless, or indifferent, or actually infidel. 
And any person who has been in the habit of grap- 
pling with the practical problems of evangelization 
as they arise, will say that positively the most dis- 
couraging sign of the times is the slender hold which 
our blessed Christianity seems to maintain on the 
children of our religious families; so that, if they 
were not being continually re-enforced from without, 
the church would not hold her own as to numbers. 
There is here something greatly wrong. It is very 



322 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



much that, in some cases, the laws of moral optics 
have been reversed, so that Christian workers see 
distinctly only the interests which are the most dis- 
tant, and their eyes are holden from discerning the 
need and the danger of those who are nearest. There 
are among us a good many Mrs. Jellabys, who are 
practicing telescopic philanthropy. At all events, the 
church greatly fails with reference to the very class 
as to which she ought most and best to succeed. Pos- 
sibly something has come from the change of base in 
the matter of Christian nurture. The Sunday-school 
has come in, and too many parents have allowed it 
to assume the entire control of this most sacred in- 
terest. Let it, then, be renewedly emphasized upon 
all our people, that the most sacred of all their 
duties is to help their children to solve the problem 
which is presented to each for solution ; that no other 
work, which can be done for God and his church, is 
so important as this of training the children for the 
kingdom ; that every parent is to see to it that his 
children are placed in the loving arms of the Savior 
of children. 

3. Finally, we must raise the standard of minis- 
terial efficiency. As has already been said, the char- 
acter of our work has been very much changed of 
late. Our preachers are less evangelists and more 
pastors, in the full sense. Their main work is not to 
bring men into the church from without, but to take 
care of those who are already in the fold. To anchor 
a man to the truth, so that he is safer from falling, 
is as real a service to the kingdom of God as to bring 
in a new recruit from without. Now, then, the pastor 



OUTLOOK OF METHODISM. 



323 



is set for the spiritual care and culture of the flock. 
He is to feed them with Christ's words. He is to 
lead them into the fertile pastures of the Lord and 
by the side of the waters of rest. He is to keep them, 
feed them, fold them, defend them, minister to them. 



324 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



IV. 

GOD'S REQUIREMENTS; 

OR, THE TRINITY OF SPIRITUAL, CHARACTER * 

"What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, 
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" — 
Micah vi, 8. 

THERE is one class of facts with which the care- 
ful and critical student of the Bible comes to 
be familiar which are both interesting and instruct- 
ive, but are not without their suggestions of diffi- 
culty ; and these are the reappearance of matters of 
Biblical history, with material additions, such as are 
not found in the original narrative. For example, 
Paul, in his address to the elders of Ephesus, whom 
he had called to meet him at Miletus, says: "And 
to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he 
says, It is more blessed to give than to receive and 
yet we read the entire Gospel history, from beginning 
to end, without finding any intimation that the Lord 
Jesus ever employed any such language. And so we 
are made to know that Paul, and those whom he ad- 
dressed, had access to some source of information as 
to the life and words of Christ of which we to-day 
have no knowledge. 

:;: Sermon preached in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Evanston, 111., November 6, 1881. 



GOD'S REQUIREMENTS. 



325 



Again, the Psalmist, in recounting the expe- 
riences of Joseph in the Egyptian prison, says that 
his " feet were hurt with the fetters and yet, in the 
original narrative, though it is very minute and cir- 
cumstantial, no mention is made of this, thus leading 
to the conclusion that the writer, in his acquaintance 
with the personal history of Joseph, was not limited 
to our book of Genesis. 

In one of the epistles, the names of the magicians 
who " withstood Moses," in that fearful contest which 
he waged in behalf of the God of Israel against the 
gods of the Egyptians, are set down : " Now as Jan- 
nes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also 
resist the truth and yet, in the original account, 
neither the names nor the number of these magicians 
are given. And so it appears that Paul had other in- 
formation as to this most central passage in the his- 
tory of the Hebrew people than that which we find 
in our book of Exodus. 

But the most remarkable illustration is found in 
connection with the text. Few passages of personal 
history in the Old Testament are more notable or 
more interesting than that of the prophet Balaam, 
And it is given in a very minute and circumstantial 
way, even the attitude and words and all the pro- 
ceedings of the principal parties being most graph- 
ically set forth. And yet it is reserved for the 
prophet Micah, writing almost a thousand years after 
Balaam's time, to record his most searching and 
pregnant utterance : " O, my people, remember now 
what Balak, king of Moab, consulted, and what Ba- 
laam, the son of Beor, answered him from Shittim unto 



326 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



Gilgal ; that ye may know the righteousness of the 
Lord. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and 
bow myself before the high God? Shall I come be- 
fore him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year 
old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of 
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall 
I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit 
of my body for the sin of my soul?" 

To all this, which expresses most unmistakably 
and distinctly the spirit of materialistic and ritual- 
istic heathenism, come, in reply, the grand and 
solemn words of the text — a voice from the primi- 
tive monotheism which this strange character, Ba- 
laam, must be taken as representing : " He hath 
showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth 
the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to 
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" 

Of the many important questions which have en- 
gaged the attention of men, doubtless one of the most 
important is that anciently proposed by the psalmist: 
" Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and 
who shall stand in his holy place ?" It is man- 
ifest that if the doctrines of theism be true, this ques- 
tion is invested with the highest interest to every 
spiritual being. It is a question of interest what re- 
lations I sustain to men, though they are truthfully 
described as but the small dust in Jehovah's balance, 
but " as the grass of the field which at evening is cut 
down and withereth;" yet it is a question of incon- 
ceivably greater interest, What relation do I sustain 
to the everlasting God, with whom there is no vari- 
ableness, neither shadow of turning? It is a ques- 



GOD 'S REQUIREMENTS. 327 



tion of interest, Where shall be my earthly home, 
and who shall constitute my earthly friends? Shall 
I live in an atmosphere warm and congenial, or in 
one chilling and deathful? But rising above this 
question, as do the heavens rise above the earth, is 
that other question : " Shall I my everlasting days 
with fiends or angels spend?" And so one of the 
great objects of the Christian Scriptures is to set forth 
to us the style of character upon which God hath 
placed the seal of his approbation — to answer the 
question : " Who shall ascend into the hill of the 
Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place?" And 
one of the most intelligible and comprehensive of the 
many epitomes of human duty scattered throughout 
the word of God is this which we have read as the 
text for this morning: "What doth the Lord require 
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to 
walk humbly with thy God?" 

The theme suggested by this text, and to it your 
attention is now invited, is, God's Requirements ; 
or, The Trinity of Spiritual Character. 

I use the term "trinity" because it expresses the 
exact truth, and is the only term which does express 
the truth. Spiritual character is essentially a tri- 
unity. It contains three essential elements, and only 
three, and these agree in one. If either of these is 
absent, all seeming goodness is spurious. If any 
other principle is admitted as co-ordinate with these, 
they are not genuine, but base counterfeits. It is no 
more possible to admit another into the holy of holies 
of spiritual character than to seat another by the side 
of the infinite God, and upon his own throne. 



328 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



I use the term "spiritual" as being of the widest 
possible import, and as directing our attention to re- 
sults rather than processes. I do not say Christian 
character — I do not know whether this phrase would 
be practically equivalent or not — but spiritual char- 
acter, believing that goodness is one in all beings and 
in all worlds. And it seems to me to be well some- 
times to turn away our attention from these pro- 
cesses — these questions of repentance and consecra- 
tion and faith ; the Church, the ministry, and the 
sacraments; the things we are to do, and the expe- 
riences which may come to us in doing them — and 
to fasten our attention upon that one grand result 
unto which we must come, in order to enter into the 
life of God. Whether we are Methodists or Quakers, 
Eomanists or Liberalists, Externalists or Mystics; 
whether we profess this creed or that, or have had 
this or that form of what is called experience, — it is 
well for us sometimes to confront that changeless 
standard unto which we must conform or we can not 
enter into life. The scaffolding is at best but tempo- 
rary, and must soon be thrown down. The great 
question is — and it is one which shall brighten or 
shadow the eternal ages — when this has fallen, will 
the temple of spiritual character stand perfect and 
complete, column and arch and dome of everlasting 
strength ? Upon these three essential elements of 
character let us now fix our attention. 

I. Justice. 

As is characteristic of the Old Testament, the text 
uses a concrete and individualizing phrase to set forth 
what is universal. It is not the " doing justly" that 



GOD '5 REQUIREMENTS. 329 



God demands, but justice; not a form of life, but a 
quality of character. It is no more necessary to do 
justly than to speak justly, to think justly, or to feel 
justly. Just as the one great ocean is known by dif- 
ferent names as it washes different shores, so this uni- 
versal principle is called by different names as it has 
to do with different relations. It is justice in admin- 
istration, truth in language, righteousness in general 
character, and holiness in nature. In one word, it is 
Tightness, rectitude, a thorough and perfect adjust- 
ment of the soul to God, and so to all its spirit- 
ual relations — holiness of heart, and, by consequence, 
holiness of life. 

1. This justice must be fundamental. 

This is the first, as it is also the decisive, test of 
genuineness. Justice which is not authoritative is 
not justice at all, but may be most delusive and dan- 
gerous self-seeking. Right doing, with a view to in- 
terest or advantage, is not right doing, but may in- 
volve the very audacity of uttermost rebellion, just as 
it has been well said, " The devil never lies so badly 
as when he tells the truth." 

Perhaps the deepest and most comprehensive of 
all tests in morals and religion is this : Which is first, 
holiness or happiness? that is, which of these is the 
ultimate and sacred thing which carries in its bosom 
all possible values? Is right doing right doing for 
the reason simply that it produces a happiness? or is 
it better to say that it produces happiness because it 
is right doing? Is all possible good gathered up in 
this one word happiness, and do all tests and stand- 
ards of excellence come forth from it? or is there a 

22 



330 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



higher and more sacred thing out of which all spirit- 
ual harmonies do flow? This question is the touch- 
stone of all the theologies. With equal clearness does 
it draw the line between the Calvinist and the Ar- 
minian, and between the Liberal and the Evangelical. 
If there is such a thing as essential and immutable 
justice, then an arbitrary election to eternal life or an 
arbitrary reprobation to eternal death is an impossibil- 
ity. Equally so is salvation by mere prerogative, 
which is the last and highest point where the Liberal 
and Evangelical part company. 

But though all the great controversies of all the 
ages revolve about this question, the intuitions of men 
upon it are in perfect agreement. It is universally 
felt that the one sacred and fundamental thing against 
which nothing can prevail, by the side of which 
nothing can stand, whose absolute authority no one 
can dispute, which is solitary and supreme as God 
himself, is righteousness. We can conceive of God 
as laying aside his happiness, but who can think of 
him as laying aside his holiness? We recognize him 
as inflicting suffering, but who does not feel the blas- 
phemy of inquiring whether he ever inflicts sin? We 
sometimes ask whether Christ's divinity suffered in 
the atonement, thus proving that there is not in our 
thought any clear sense of utter incongruity between 
the nature of Christ and suffering; but who does not 
recognize such an incongruity between him and sin? 
But the general consciousness of men may be gleaned 
from current aphorisms and adages. What is meant 
when it is said that " it is better that ninety and nine 
guilty persons go unpunished, than that one innocent 



GOD'S REQUIREMENTS. 331 



person should suffer," unless it be that the one and 
only fatal mistake which the State, as the individual, 
can commit, is that of doing wrong; that while there 
is loss, and perhaps peril, in suffering wrong, there is 
ruin in doing wrong, for it unsettles the only founda- 
tions upon which the State can be built? 

Here, then, is the beginning of all excellence. 
There is absolutely no good if this be wanting. There 
can, by no possibility, be any genuine "mercy," or 
philanthropy, or " walking with God," unless there is 
first personal righteousness. One may speak with the 
tongues of men or of angels ; his whole life may be 
crowded with philanthropic endeavor and with heroic 
achievement ; he may give all his goods to feed the 
poor, and his body to be burned, and yet, unless 
there be in his deepest soul absolute rectitude as be- 
fore God, he can not stand in the judgment, nor in 
the congregation of the righteous. 
It must be universal. 

It must pervade the whole being, just as the soul 
pervades the body ; it must constitute the warp and 
the woof of character ; it must enter into every thought, 
purpose, aspiration, affection, motive, principle, and 
every outward form of conduct. The difference be- 
tween a bad man and a good man is, that the former 
sometimes does wrong. Of course he does not and 
can not antagonize the divine administration at every 
point. This, if it were possible, would be instant 
and utter suicide, extending even to annihilation. 
The thing which characterizes a bad man is, that 
he, at some times, and in the presence of certain 
temptations, does wrong of set intent, and thus 



332 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



proves that it is in his heart to do so. What God 
demands is spiritual symmetry and integrity — sound- 
ness and wholeness; or, as the theological term is, 
holiness. 

One serious defect in the piety of the present day 
is in the lack of the ethical element — of a delicate, 
high-toned, and controlling conscientiousness. Men 
pray not to be made right, but to be saved ; and to 
be saved is, in their thought, to be rid of physical 
evil, rather than spiritual — of suffering, rather than 
sin. The type of religion which prevails is largely 
of the bustling, sentimental, hymn-singing order; our 
church-life is often ostentatious and luxurious; but it 
does not, so certainly as we might wish, infuse into 
men and women that sturdy, downright, positive rec- 
titude which guarantees fidelity in any relation in 
which they may be placed. The great want of society 
to-day, as ever, is not as to the amenities, refinements, 
or decorations of life — good as these may be — but 
thorough honesty and trustworthiness ; truth in char- 
acter and truth in life. Here is the great, though for 
the most part inscrutable, secret of these fearful dis- 
asters which, from time to time, shock and terrify 
civilized communities of the latter day — the falling 
of bridges, the foundering of ships, the starting of 
conflagrations, the collapse of buildings, and the wreck- 
ing of railway trains. Though it can not often be 
proven, there is little reason to doubt that, in the 
majority of this class of calamities, the real culprit 
was some dishonest and unfaithful worker — some man 
who held a precious trust unworthily, and wrought as 
pleasing men rather than God. 



GOD'S REQUIREMENTS. 



333 



" In the elder days of art, 

Builders wrought with greatest care 
Each minute and unseen part; 
For the gods see everywhere." 

II. Mercy — " To love mercy" 

I use this term, taken from the text itself, as 
suggesting the truth, rather than expressing it. Our 
language contains no single term which sets forth 
fully and adequately the precious thing here intended. 
Benevolence is too weak and neutral, mercy too 
special and narrow, philanthropy too low and worldly. 
Neither of these expresses the principle of self-sacri- 
fice, which is the characteristic and distinguishing 
thing in this aspect of goodness. I mean that which 
was illustrated by Saint Paul, when he said, " I am 
debtor both to the Jews and to the Greeks" — debtor, 
not because of what he had recei ved of them, but be- 
cause of his power to do them good ; thus recognizing 
that grand and fundamental principle in Christian 
living, that every man owes every other man all the 
good he can possibly do him consistently with the 
rights of others. More beautifully is this expressed 
in another place : " Yea, and if I be offered upon the 
sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice 
with you all that is, the apostle is willing to be 
poured out as a libation — to be lost, and to disappear, 
and be forgotten altogether — if thus he might render 
the sacrifice of those for whom he labored acceptable 
in the sight of God. Still more fearfully expressive 
are the words in the ninth of Romans : " I could wish 
that myself were accursed from Christ for my breth- 
ren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh/' But this 



334 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



principle finds its crowning illustration — and here it 
may be most confidently and perfectly identified — in 
Him "who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes 
became poor, that we through his poverty might be 
made rich;" who, "forasmuch as the children are 
partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise 
took part in the same;" because "it behooved him 
to be made in all things like unto his brethren,' 7 
that " he, by the grace of God, might taste death for 
every man." 

The grandest thing and the most precious thing 
in all this world is a truly consecrated soul — one that 
continually offers up itself in flames of holy love on 
the altar of God and of humanity. Such a man be- 
longs to the nobility of heaven. He is a worker to- 
gether with God. In so far as it is possible for a 
finite being to be so, he is a savior of men. For 
what this dead world needs is not forms, nor creeds, 
nor systems — not polish, nor pruning — but life. It 
is not by mechanical appliances, nor spiritual leger- 
demain; not by robes and tonsures, incense and atti- 
tudes and priestly manipulation, that the terrible 
necessities of our ruined humanity must be met. The 
world may totter under its weight of cathedrals; its 
pile of ghastly uniformity, as to rites and ceremonies, 
may have a base as broad as Sahara, and all be but 
a splendid mausoleum of the dead. The one agoniz- 
ing prayer of sinful humanity is for life; and until 
this is answered, we have no other wants, and can 
have no other blessings. And so he who becomes in 
his own character and nature a channel of the divine 
life, a port of entry from the skies, climbs up to the 



GOD'S REQUIREMENTS. 



335 



very throne of human achievement. All others come 
short of life's great encl ; these, and these alone, con- 
stitute the peculiar family of the Most High. In the 
end, as I can not doubt, we shall find that the lamp 
of sacrifice sheds its light in every part of the divine 
dominions. It will fully appear that the cross is 
planted in the very center of the spiritual universe, 
and that the dying cry of the Divine Victim is the 
key-note of all spiritual harmonies. "Give me a 
place to stand," said Archimedes, in his enthusiasm 
at discovering the principle of the lever — " Give me a 
place to stand, and I '11 move the world." And hence 
this is the question which men are asking — " Pou 
sto f — where can I stand? Where is the real center 
of power? Take your stand at the cross, and you 
will come to the maximum of your possibility. The 
weakest and obscurest worker, standing here, shall 
really move the world. The glory of those who shine 
so brightly and beautifully in the Christian heavens, 
is a gleam from the world's great altar-fire. 

Hear the story of one of these: "In journeyings 
often; in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in 
perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the 
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- 
ness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false breth- 
ren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, 
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
nakedness." 

By the side of this — which I can not but regard 
as one of the most eloquent passages in all literature — 
I will place another characteristic specimen of the 
Christian life, taken from an obscurer source. A 



336 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



century ago, the United Brethren, at much cost of 
toil and hardship, had succeeded in establishing 
their mission at Gnadenhutten, in Eastern Ohio. 
One night, as the mission family were at supper, the 
barking of the dogs alarmed them. One of the 
Brethren opened the door, when instantly a volley 
was fired by Indians in ambush. He fell dead, and 
his wife and several others were mortally wounded. 
The door was secured, and the well and wounded 
took refuge in the upper story of their fort-house. 
The Indians at .last fired the building, and all but 
three of the missionaries perished. One sick woman 
gained the cover of a friendly thicket, and escaped to 
tell the tale. " The last time I saw my sister," said 
she, "she was kneeling, and I heard her say, in a 
clear, sweet voice : ^T is all well, my dear Savior !' " 
What angel in heaven ever stood on a lofter height 
of consecration and of victory? 

III. Religious Devotion — " To walk humbly with 
thy God." 

We have tarried, perhaps, too long in the outer 
court of the temple of spiritual character, but it has 
been to learn again the simple but all-cor/prehending 
lesson of truth. We have lingered a moment in the 
holy place to learn the lesson of sacrifice. And now 
we come to the grand and crowning privilege of hu- 
manity — that of entering into the holiest of all, and 
experiencing the rapture of divine communion. "To 
walk humbly with God" describes a perfect life, and 
that, too, in its divinest aspect. Heaven is not higher 
as to its essence, but only as to its accidents. 

Of the blessedness of this life I may not now 



GOD 'S REO UI RE ME NTS. 



337 



speak. It were as easy to throw upon canvas the 
glory of the New Jerusalem, or to set forth by mu- 
sical notation the songs of the angels. He has had 
but a poor experience who has not known joys which 
were absolutely ineffable, and which to attempt to 
speak would be sacrilege. There is "a peace that 
passeth understanding," and a "joy that is unspeak- 
able and full of glory." 

The struggle to express this joy of divine com- 
munion has created the richest passages in all litera- 
ture; and yet when we have climbed up to the highest 
height of expression, we feel that we are no nearer 
this overarching heaven than we were at the first. 
Here originated that hymn which, by general consent, 
is regarded as the best Watts ever wrote : 

" My God, the spring of all rny joys, 
The life of my delights, 
The glory of my brightest days, 
And comfort of my nights! 

In darkest shades, if thou appear, 

My dawning is began ; 
Thou art my soul's bright morning star, 

And thou my rising sun. 

The opening heavens around me shine 

With beams of sacred bliss, 
If Jesus shows his mercy mine, 

And whispers I am his." 

Still more expressive, and perhaps more familiar, 
is the language of Count Zinzendorf, as translated by 
John Wesley : 

" How blest are they who still abide 
Close sheltered in thy bleeding side ! 



338 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



Who thence their life and strength derive, 
And by thee move, and in thee live." 

But more tender and more adequate are the beau- 
tiful lines of the devout Dessler, written almost two 
hundred years ago : 

" 0, Friend of souls, how blest the time 
When in thy love I rest ; 
When from my weariness I climb 
E'en to tby tender breast ! 

The night of sorrow endeth there ; 

Thy rays outshine the sun, 
And in thy pardon and thy care 

The heaven of heavens is won." 

I linger only for two general remarks: 

1. All partial characters are spurious — the mere 
moralist, the mere philanthropist, or the religious en- 
thusiast. Integrity in all spiritual relations is the 
only guaranty of genuineness. 

2. This trinity in character answers to the Trinity 
of persons in the Godhead. In the quality of thorough 
and perfect righteousness, we are harmoniously re- 
lated to God as God, without any distinction of per- 
sons. The spring of all real sacrifice, as well as its 
most perfect illustration, is found in the Lord Jesus ; 
and so this quality binds us to the second person in 
the Trinity. And, finally, divine communion is, to us 
sinners, the special and blissful product of the Holy 
Ghost ; and so, such a character as this text sets forth 
is, indeed, the " triune shadow of Jehovah," and all 
they who possess it enter into eternal fellowship with 
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy 
Ghost ! 



V7CARI0USNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 339 



V. 

THE YICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 

" Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of 
Christ." — Galatians vi, 2. 

THE theme suggested by this text, and which, as I 
have thought, may profitably guide the meditations 
of this hour, is, The Vicariousness of Human Life ; 
by which is meant that every life which is under the 
divine ordering and conforms to it; every life that 
illustrates the divine idea of humanity, and so has any 
claim to be considered a true and typical human life, — 
will manifest itself in bearing the burdens of others, 
in a kindly, fraternal, and helpful sympathy for all 
who stand in need of it. 

I. Now, there are some things which can by no 
possibility be transferred, and the very first step 
toward defining more clearly the territory of thought 
brought to view in this text, is to bethink ourselves 
of this fact, and to consider what some of these are ; 
for if all things could be thrown off and laid aside at 
will, there would remain no firm basis of individu- 
ality, and society would be chaos. 

The most fundamental and the most solemn at- 
tribute of human life is its utter solitariness. There 
is a sense in which every individual man is isolated 
and apart from every other man, as really as though 



340 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



they dwelt in different worlds. This solitude is 
changeless, and it is invincible. We can not get be- 
low it without falling out of being. We can not rise 
above it unless we can rise above God, who maketh 
us to differ. We can not evade it or ignore it, unless 
we can escape from ourselves, or repeal Heaven's first 
and most sacred law, written with the pen of God on 
every individual nature: "Every man shall bear his 
own burden." 

1. For instance, one can not transfer his mission 
and w T ork, of whatever sort it is. It was waiting for 
him when he came into the world. It does not de- 
pend, and it never did depend, upon his choice or 
caprice; it. is possible for him to mar it, but it was 
never possible for him to make it. The individuality 
of a man's work is as perfect and as immutable as that 
of his nature. God's plan has something for us which 
no other can do. There are words which the world 
needs to have spoken, and which God is waiting to 
have spoken, which we only can speak. There is 
some corner, some dark recess, which will remain dark 
forever, unless our little light shine therein. There 
is some humble note in the everlasting anthem which 
no voice but ours can strike, and the harmony will 
not be perfect without this note. 

And so the obscurest life may have a nobility and 
a sacredness just as inalienable as the most illustrious, 
because it is under the interested eye of God ; because 
it has a divine meaning in it and a divine energy 
behind it; because it is a part, an essential part, 
of God's great plan, which embraces us and all things. 
The man who feels that he has come into the 



VICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 341 

world on God's errand, and is fulfilling it hour 
by hour and day by day ; that he is a divinely 
selected medium of blessing to his own family, to the 
community in which he lives, to the congregation in 
which he worships, to the Sabbath-school in which he 
labors, and to the friends with whom he associates, — 
has in this a consciousness of dignity and a sense of 
personal worth and success that nothing else can, by 
any possibility, give. Assured that his life is pro- 
ducing immortal fruit, he can well afford to look down 
on all earthly good. If God needs him, and has a 
place for him in his plan, he is safe, and should be 
content. The earth carries just as lovingly on her 
bosom the humble violet as she does proudly on her 
brow the majestic cedar; and who shall say that one 
may not, from the lowliest place, see as far into the 
deeps of heaven as from the loftiest? 

2. A man's personality is alienable. There is 
given to every one a " name which no man knoweth, 
save he that receiveth it." God fits us for our work; 
and as it differs, so do we. I do not say because it 
differs. The reason may be, and I think is, deeper; 
but it is certain that we differ as our work. There is 
something we can do better than anybody else — one 
sphere in which each may be master — a throne on 
which he may sit, and a crown for him to wear. In 
this sphere, not only is there no rival, there is abso- 
lutely no other. The man's adapted nature is the 
only door of admission thereto. Every other is as 
hopelessly excluded as the blind man from the gor- 
geous hues, and the deaf man from the rapturous har- 
monies, of the universe. 



342 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



Brethren, I pause to thank God for this most fun- 
damental of all rights, — the right to be one's self; the 
right to stand in one's one place, no matter how ob- 
scure ; to build on one's own foundation, no matter 
how narrow; the right to think one's own thoughts, 
to cherish individual beliefs, and to give individual 
expression to the same. In this world, where no two 
things are alike, where all variety blends in all unity, 
I accept with grateful loyalty the mandate which holds 
my personality in eternal separation from all others, 
and thus stamps it with indestructible value. 

3. And this view covers personal weaknesses and 
infirmities. These also are a part of our individuality, 
and can not at will be laid aside as an ill-fitting gar- 
ment. The complete circle of human goodness has 
never, in but a single instance, been perfectly filled 
out. Every other man, but the one Divine Man, is but 
a fragment or a caricature, ill-proportioned and gro- 
tesque, overdone or underdone, eccentric or fantastic. 
"He will be immortal," says quaint old Thomas 
Fuller, "who liveth till he be stoned by one without 
fault." We all feel, if our life amounts to anything 
that can be called experience, that we have not come 
to the ideal perfection, or to that perfection which is 
practicable to us — indeed, that we are terribly other- 
wise. Our minds are clouded by error and warped by 
prejudice ; our hearts have taken in other guests than 
purity, honor, and disinterested love; and all this 
expresses itself in our outward lives. Who of us can 
say that there is no jealousy in our dispositions, no 
bitterness in our feelings, no overreaching in our deal- 
ings, no conceit in our self-esteem, no untruthfulness 



VICARTOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 



343 



in our utterances, no intolerance in our judgments, or 
hypocrisy in our professions — none of that radically 
impious love of the world with which the love of the 
Father makes no compromise ? Alas ! the history of 
the church abundantly shows that a man may be a 
saint, that he may belong to the highest circles of 
sainthood, and yet have failings and foibles, frailties 
and imperfections. Peter may have been too im- 
petuous; Paul too inflexible; John too introspective; 
Luther too convivial ; Wesley too despotic ; and yet 
each one of these grand representative men exhibits 
his most characteristic excellences in the same direction 
with his most characteristic faults. So that the highest 
strength of a man is likely to be bound up in the 
same bundle with his most dangerous weakness. 

Now, individuality in this low and narrow sense 
is practically indelible ; and hence there is special need 
of charity in our judgments of each other. In this 
great battle which each must fight for himself, of . 
right against wrong, of purity against impurity, of 
self-will against God's will, " every heart knows its 
own bitterness." 

" Who made the heart, 'tis He alone 

Decidedly can try us ; 
He knows each chord, its various tone ; 

Each spring, its various bias. 
Then at the balance let 's be mute — 

We never can adjust it. 
What 's done we partly may compute, 

But know not what 's resisted." 

4. There is in this text, then, no principle of 
agrarianism; no law 'against nature seeking to bear 



344 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



down and sweep away the personal distinctions of 
men ; no eommand that he whose burden is already 
up to the full measure of his strength shall attempt 
the impossible thing of carrying his brother's load. 
This law, "Bear ye one another's burdens," must be 
interpreted consistently with that deeper and higher 
law, " Every man must bear his own burden." Let 
us fix it, then, as the one focal point of our conscious- 
ness toward which everything must converge, and from 
which everything must proceed, the citadel of our 
self-hood, the immovable center of our spiritual life, 
that duty is personal : that it always speaks to the 
individual conscience; that every man must give ac- 
count of himself to God. Hence, the vicariousness 
which I allege of human life does not at all come 
down into these deepest depths. 

II. We turn now to the burdens which are trans- 
ferable, and to which the command of the text applies : 

1. The first group of these is found in what are 
called our temporal affairs. " The first practical prob- 
lem in all philosophy," as Carlyle says, " is that of 
keeping soul and body together," and, as many of 
us have found long ere this, it is a problem not easy 
to solve. With care and poverty, sickness and acci- 
dent, carelessness and ignorance, cutting away at the 
bond of union, it is not an easy matter to preserve 
and keep it. It is not so simple a problem as might 
at first appear. " Man does not live by bread alone." 
Not alone must our grosser physical necessities be 
met, but those which are more subtle and ethereal, 
which take hold of the rarer and richer products of a 
Christian civilization. The question is not simply, 



VICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 345 



how to keep our physical nature from starvation, 
but how to keep our mental nature, our social nature, 
our esthetic nature, our moral nature, from starvation. 
So that this hand-to-hand fight with want and pov- 
erty, in which so many of us are engaged, is a great 
deal more hotly contested than would at first appear, 
and it brings to most of us the varying fortunes of 
victory and defeat. With a majority the issue hangs 
in suspense from first to last, so that very few indeed, 
even in the most prosperous communities, ever 
come to feel that they have built up an adequate bar- 
rier between themselves and families and want. There 
is always a possibility, a dreaded possibility, that all 
resources may at last fail, and those we love be turned 
out upon the world shelterless and dependent. Not a 
few feel that their hold on competency and comfort is 
by the frailest of tenures — health, particular occupa- 
tion, the fortunes of tra<^e, and such like uncertain- 
ties — so that the tenure is liable at any time to be 
broken. And thus in every circle are those living 
under grinding and depressing conditions, like men in 
a sack trying to run a race, or prisoners let out to 
work in the quarry or to macadamize the street, yet 
tethered to their bondage by ball and chain. 

Of all this I by no means complain. I have no 
suspicion that the universe is badly managed, that it 
has fallen out of the hands of our wise and tender 
Father into the power of some malignant tyrant who 
delights to lay upon men unnecessary and cruel exac- 
tions. I have no doubt that the grand outcome will, 
when it is reached, vindicate all the intermediate steps. 

If this world is a spiritual gymnasium, it ought to 

23 



346 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



afford some pretty vigorous exercise. If it is a train- 
ing-school for immortality, it ought to be such as to 
develop and perfect our highest powers, so that, when 
we graduate from it, it shall be with strong, symmet- 
rical, and thoroughly cultivated natures. If it is a 
battle-ground, it were well that it should be the battle- 
ground of humanity, and perhaps, also, of the spiritual 
universe. Let all the hostile forces that can ever 
meet us, meet us here and now, only so that all the 
divine resources which can ever be available to us 
shall be available here and now ; and then shall the 
issue, when we reach it, be decisive, and the victory 
permanent. 

We may not complain, then, of the hardship of 
self-support. It gives a rest, a significance, and a 
value to life, which would be otherwise impossible. 
The little, loving sacrifices and tender plannings and 
willing toils which are interwoven into the possessions 
of the poor, make them a thousand times more pre- 
cious than the decorative ciphers which fill the homes 
of the rich. Show me a man who inherits this earth 
to the very fullness of the promise, and I will show 
you one who paid the price of wise and thoughtful 
planning, and patient and persistent toil, for the ac- 
quisitions he made. One of the most fearful curses 
that can come upon a human life is that " insupport- 
able weight of emptiness " which they feel who have 
nothing to do but to fill up every day from brim to 
brim with trifles. 

But though we may not accuse God's plan which 
requires us, each one for himself, in some sense to 
create the value which he would find in outward 



VICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 347 



things, and makes it impossible that any wealth should 
be thrust upon us as from without, yet, on the other 
hand, we must not fail to see that, because of these 
" heavy burdens and grievous to be borne," Christianity 
comes in with its special help and alleviations and 
inspirations. It comes demanding that men who are 
Christian in every other department of life shall not 
be unchristian here. It comes enjoining us to remem- 
ber that all we are brethren. It would sweep away 
all artificial distinctions, such as are based on mere 
fortune and not on culture or character or intrinsic 
worth. It comes enjoining on all the duty of simple 
living and humble loving, and this is the gospePs 
perfect remedy for the most serious evils that afflict 
society. It comes forbidding that the burdens of 
God's poor should be wantonly increased by oppres- 
sion and cruel exactions ; by overreaching in business ; 
by any contrivances to obtain an undue or unfair ad- 
vantage ; by any and all expedients to interrupt the 
natural flow of supply to demand, and thus to divert 
nature's reward of honest toil into the coffers of the 
crafty human parasites who live on the life of their 
fellows ; by carrying the oppressive tyranny of fashion 
into all circles of human life, even into the house of 
God itself; and by whatsoever in our business habits, 
and in the ordering of our daily lives, tends to make 
this problem one of greater difficulty and security to 
the poor " brethren of our Lord" that may be found 
in every community. 

Carry to those who need it a tender and consider- 
ate sympathy ; assure them of your sense of identity 
with them in their trials ; lift the burden from their 



348 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



hearts ; chase away the shadow of despondency, if not 
despair, that is beginning to fall across their lives; 
help them to a richer strength and a nobler courage ; 
and, in so far as the way can be opened without 
working a sense of dependence and degradation in 
them, minister unto their need of your bounty. " He 
that seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his 
bowels of compassion against him, how dwelleth the 
love of God in him?" 

2. The second group of our burdens are those 
which come out of our mortal condition, — infirmity, 
disease, suffering, and death. 

In these is the whole world kin. The rich and 
the poor meet together on the bed of pain and in the 
narrow house appointed for all living. The solemn, 
inevitable hour marches steadily on for each one of 
us, w T hether we wake or sleep, rest or labor, suffer or 
rejoice. We all stand in the presence of this dread 
certainty ; and so there is a sense of common ex- 
posure and common peril. The grave that opened 
yesterday to receive my brother, may open to-morrow 
for me. His mortal agony, which I could not allevi- 
ate, is a truthful prophecy of my own ; for 

" Soon shall death's oppressive hand 
Lie heavy on these languid eyes." 

I can not at this time discuss the dark and diffi- 
cult problem of physical evil. I would, however, 
express the faith I have that it is all light in the pres- 
ence of the cross. As I have already said of some 
of the hard conditions of our present life, I have no 
suspicion that these come from a malign power. God 



VICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 



349 



hath put all things in the Christian inventory, — losses 
and crosses, defeats and disappointments, sicknesses 
and bereavements, and even our mortal pain and 
anguish. 

There is no ministry on this earth which is holier 
than the ministry of pain, unless it be the ministries 
which itself invokes. " How often have I thought 
myself at home, save until sickness roundly told me I 
was mistaken !" "If the good Lord had not put thorns 
in my pillow, I should have slept away and lost my 
glory." How many a man has had occasion to say, 
substantially, with Whitefield, " that notwithstanding 
his sickness continued for six or seven weeks, he 
should have occasion to bless God for it through the 
ages of eternity !" How many of us would to-day be 
walking altogether in the light of this world, looking 
only at the things which are seen, had we not been 

" Compelled 

By pain to turn our thoughts towards the grave, 
And face the regions of eternity?" 

" Of all the know-nothing persons in this world," 
says Thomas Hood, "commend us to the man who has 
never known a day's illness. He is a moral dunce ; 
one who has lost the greatest lesson in life; who has 
skipped the finest lecture in that great school of hu- 
manity, the sick-chamber." 

But the ministry of sickness and suffering is spe- 
cially valuable, in that it calls out the Christ-like sym- 
pathies of others, and gives them legitimate play. It 
throws wide open the door of Christian duty. It 
makes it possible for us to be literally followers of 



350 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



Him who himself took our infirmities and bore our 
sicknesses, and whose miracles were wrought in the 
direction of human relief. In nothing is the Christian 
more Christ-like than when he is seeking to relieve the 
terrible pressure of sin and suffering upon individual 
members of our race, carrying light to dark homes, 
and joy and courageous hope to sad and despairing 
hearts. The necessity that is sometimes on the par- 
ent thus to minister to his own child, or the child to 
his parent, or neighbor to neighbor, is one of the most 
potent, purifying, and unifying influences which God 
has sent out into this world. 

3. But the most important class of burdens are 
spiritual; for the one real burden of humanity is 
sin. This is the one terrible fact in the history of 
this planet, and in the history of humanity. Nothing 
else has power so to weight us down as that we shall 
miss the immortal prize. Eliminate this from the na- 
ture of man, and he rises to heaven with a momentum 
which no power in the universe can overbear. Fail 
to eliminate it, and he sinks, not into poverty and 
misery and obscurity merely, but into the very depths 
of perdition itself. 

Hence the one need of humanity, in the presence 
of which there is no other, is the need that this bur- 
den shall be borne. And it is this terrible need which 
unlocks the deep mystery of the incarnation itself. 
The one mission on which Christ came to this world 
is to bear the sin of the world. The one comprehen- 
sive description of Christ in his relations to men — that 
which carries all others in its bosom — is that to which, 
in our Sunday-school studies we have recently given 



VICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 351 



attention : " Behold the lamb of God, which taketh 
away [or better, beareth] the sin of the world." And 
this is our work with reference to each other, just as 
absolutely as it is Christ's work. Our mission is laid 
in his mission; our life is but the outflowing of his 
life, so that they are not two, but one. A Christian 
is to be in his sphere just as really a savior of others 
as is Christ in his sphere. 

Here, then, is our great work. It is a blessed 
thing, a good and Christ-like thing, to lighten the ills 
of poverty to our fellow-men ; to walk by the side of 
the weary and heavy-laden ones, and give them the 
support of our strength and sympathy. But how much 
better to bring them to know and to have the true 
riches ! It is divine, as well as in the highest 
sense human, " humane," to minister to the sick and 
suffering and dying; and yet the most blessed of all 
ministries to them is that which brings into their 
hearts that divine alchemy of the grace of God which 
transmutes all things to gold — all things, for even sick- 
ness and suffering and decrepitude and mortal an- 
guish become precious treasure in the Christian's in- 
ventory. 

III. Such, then, is the general sweep of the ex- 
hortation of the text. With what divine simplicity 
and authority do these truly characteristic words come 
to us ! By what weighty sanctions is this command 
enforced — sanctions of duty and of interest, of sympa- 
thy and of gratitude, of humanity and of religion, the 
promise of the life which now is and of that which is to 
come! — especially by that highest of all considera- 
tions, the essential nature of spiritual life. For life is 



352 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



shown in these, that it appropriates and that it gives. 
If it fails in either of these functions, it fails fatally. 
He who does not devote himself to the welfare of 
others, is dead while he liveth. There is no hell so 
fearful as that which the consummately selfish man 
carries about in his own breast. The verdict expressed 
by our words inhuman and humane, is universally ap- 
proved. He who never manifests toward the needy 
and unfortunate a spirit of helpful sympathy, is pro- 
nounced inhuman; that is to say, he ceases to be a 
man. He gives the lie to his own proper nature, and 
voluntarily descends, not to the level of the brute, but 
to that of the demon. And just in the ratio in which 
a man rises to the full dignity of self-sacrifice, rejoic- 
ing in the most literal and comprehensive sense to give 
himself for others — going with a generous helpfulness 
to all who stand in need of what he can give or do, 
counting not his life dear only so he can bless and 
save his fellow-men — just in that ratio is he in the 
deepest and fullest sense humane, does he attain to the 
richest and most characteristic human life. 

I know of no words more full of tender suggestion 
than those words of Christ recorded in the 25th 
chapter of Matthew, as spoken by him in vindication 
of his own decision in favor of those whom he had 
placed on his right hand : " Inasmuch as ye have done 
it to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me." O, if we could but recognize in the men 
and women about us the real brethren and sisters of 
our Lord; if we could realize that he does absolutely 
identify himself with them, and treat what is done for 
them as done for himself; that, having given himself 



VICARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN LIFE. 



353 



for us, he makes it possible for us to give ourselves to 
him in deeds of love and mercy to our fellow-men, 
how would we rejoice to bear, as much as in us lies, 
the burdens of our sinful and our suffering brethren ! 
May God inspire us with patient, loving, self-sacrific- 
ing zeal, to walk thus literally in the very steps of 
our blessed Master! 



354 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



VI. 

THE CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 

"For me to live is Christ."— Philippians i, 21. 

I DOUBT whether any other sentence ever written, 
inspired or uninspired, condenses so much practical 
truth into so small a compass as this which I have 
just read. And if any man comes to understand this 
truth perfectly, and to appropriate it fully; if any 
man comes to a profound and thorough experience of 
this life of Christ in the soul, he will thus solve the 
all-important problem of personal excellence, and the 
equally important problem of 'personal usefulness. 
And in some manner, let us remind ourselves, this 
problem of life must be solved, for life is henceforth 
to everyone of us an unfading reality. 

The time was when we had no conscious existence, 
when our names had never been spoken, when our 
places in this universe were unfilled, when our seats in 
the great family of God were unoccupied ; but that time 
never shall return. We have commenced to prose- 
cute an endless journey. We have entered upon a 
path which we must tread unceasingly. We have 
received a boon from which we can not part. We have 
taken life for " richer or for poorer, for better or for 
worse," and death can not separate us. The time may 
indeed come when we shall desire to die, but we shall 
not be able. In the deep and bitter agony of our 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 



355 



hearts, produced by the fearful prospect before us, we 
may call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on 
us and crush us; but prayers of this sort will never 
be answered. So long as an indestructible nature 
can live, so long as God shall occupy the everlast- 
ing throne, so long shall you and I experience the 
inconceivable bliss or the untold misery connected 
with a never-ending life. 

But though we exercise no agency as to the fact 
of life, we must exercise a controlling agency as to the 
character of our lives; or, in other words, though 
what has been called " the nameless secret of exist- 
ence " may not be unlocked at will by any one of us, 
the question of life in its highest and fullest sense 
must always wait for an individual answer. It is 
true we may not be able to determine " with perfect 
freedom the outward form that our lives may take ; 
as to whether we will be rich or poor, learned or 
unlearned, men of eminence or men of comparative 
obscurity, — these questions are often determined for 
us by the providence of God. But every question 
upon which depends not merely the hue and coloring 
and accidental form of our lives, but also their tone 
and spirit and essential character, must be answered 
by ourselves, and can be answered by no other. 
Whether we will be honest or dishonest, true or false, 
virtuous or vicious, spiritual or sensual ; whether we 
will find our highest excellence in the nature which 
constitutes us brothers " to the insensible rock, or to 
the sluggish clod which the rude swain turns with his 
share and treads upon," or in that higher nature which 
we share with angels and with God, — these are ques- 



356 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



tions which each man must answer for himself. Not 
all the love of heaven, and not all the sympathy of 
man, can repeal, or in any measure modify, the law 
which is written as in letters of fire in every human 
conscience : " Every man must bear his own burden." 
That is a sad refrain which comes up from the old 
Scotch song: 

" There 's nae room for twa, ye ken ; 

There's nae room for twa. 
In the narrow house where all maun lie, 
There 's nae room for twa." 

And if there's no room for two in our graves, 
there's no room for two in our standing-places in 
life — in our portion of the great harvest field — in our 
seats in the mansions of glory. 

I know that life is sometimes represented as a 
voyage; but no two of us go in the same ship. I 
know that it is a journey, and yet we do not travel 
the journey of life in caravans. Every man is alone 
in his distinctive personal endowments, alone in the 
position he occupies and the relations he sustains; 
alone must he fight the battles of life, and meet its 
stern and solemn issues; alone must he contend with 
the last fell destroyer, and alone must he confront the 
awards of eternity. 

I have one more preliminary remark; and O that 
I had emphasis with which to utter it ! Everything 
that is precious to us is involved in this matter of 
life. I know that we are constructed to feel a deep 
interest in questions which are purely mechanical and 
incidental — questions of form, place, occupation, and 
of outward relation ; but when we come to see things 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 357 



as they really are, when the revealing light of God's 
truth shall shine in the hidden chambers of our souls, 
and give us to see the solemn realities in whose pres- „ 
ence we do continually stand, then, O then, it is that 
we are made to feel that absolutely nothing has any 
value at all that lies without the domain of spiritual 
character. I care what relations I sustain to men, 
though I know they are but " the small dust in Jeho- 
vah's balance/' but as " the grass of the field which 
to-day is and to-morrow is cut down and withereth 
and yet, after all, I profoundly feel that the great 
question is: What relation do I sustain to the ever- 
lasting God, with whom there is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning? It is a matter of interest 
with me, Where shall be my earthly home, and who 
shall constitute my earthly friends? Shall I live in 
an atmosphere warm and congenial, or in one frigid 
and deathful? But rising as far above this question 
as do the heavens rise above the earth, is that other 
question : 

" Shall I my everlasting days 
With fiends or angels spend?" 

I repeat it, then, this question of life is the su- 
preme question. It carries in its bosom all the bliss- 
ful and all the fearful possibilities which are wrapped 
up in a deathless nature. If this problem is rightly 
solved, the door is opened into an illimitable paradise ; 
but, on the other hand, if this problem is not solved, 
it shall be written as the final and fearful sentence of 
our probationary history, " And the door was shut." 

If, then, it is true that we are to live forever, and 
that each man for himself must determine the char- 



358 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



acter of this unending life, and that upon the char- 
acter of this life all precious things do really depend, 
can any theme be more appropriate to this hour than 
the Character of a True Life? To this theme 
I invite you this hour. 

The language used in the text is of most extraor- 
dinary, and yet, as regards Paul, of characteristic bold- 
ness. It implies that every one who truly lives, is in 
his measure and sphere an anointed one — a prophet 
and a savior. To live is not to enjoy Christ merely, 
though it is certainly this ; not to imitate Christ ; not 
to preach him and serve him, though of course, all 
these are involved ; but " to live is Christ." That 
is, in the case of every individual who truly lives, it 
will be as though Christ were again incarnated in 
him; and hence his life will be a reproduction of 
Christ's life, and identical with it in nature and es- 
sential qualities. Let us avail ourselves of this sug- 
gestion for the purposes of this hour. 

I. A True Life is an Earnest One. 

I use a term that suggests, rather than fully ex- 
presses, my meaning. It is too narrow and too in- 
tense to set before us broadly and adequately that 
dynamic element in character on which I would first 
insist. The foundation-attribute of every successful 
life must be the attribute of power ; not latent power, 
or dead power, but power projected into action — liv- 
ing force. This needs to be plainly stated, and espe- 
cially to every young person. There must be a cause 
if there is to be an effect. If you would have your 
life crowned with golden results, you must pay the 
price. Real success can not be inherited, or bought, 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 359 



or obtained by chance, or brought down from the 
skies by faith and by prayer — it must be wrought out. 
We are living under a reign of law, and every form 
of good has its exact and unchangeable price affixed, 
• which, under no conditions, will ever be commuted. 
Every really precious thing must be consecrated with 
the baptism of tears and blood. Weariness of muscle, 
of brain, and of heart, lie between us and our goal. 

"The lottery of honest labor is the only one whose 
prizes are worth taking up and carrying home." La- 
bor is the one universal currency of heaven ; " the 
gods sell everything good for labor." 

And so the one quality of character which is primal 
and fundamental — a quality without which our lives 
are a failure from the beginning, and we are dead 
while we live — is earnestness. Let our souls be vital 
in every part, through and through. Every point of 
our characters should stream with energy. To begin 
with, let us bring the quantity of our life up to its 
proper maximum. " In youth, work ; in middle age, 
give counsel ; in old age, pray." 

There are two terms which are very often con- 
founded, and the practical confusion of these lies at 
the foundation of many very damaging mistakes, both 
of theory and practice ; and these are, life and existence. 
And yet no two terms are more distinct. All the dif- 
ference between the body living and the body dead — 
between the living, sentient soul and the body which 
is its servant and minister; yea, all the difference 
which separates the insensible rock and the sluggish 
clod from the highest archangel which stands before 
the throne, — all that difference, then, is between life and 



360 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



mere existence. The rock as truly exists as does the 
angel; the difference is, that the angel lives! 

If, then, life and existence are not the same, it fol- 
lows that they may have different measures. Exist- 
ence is measured so as to show its dimensions in space 
and duration, by feet and miles, days and years, but 
life can not be so measured. Many a young man dies, 
as we lament, prematurely. His sun is said to have 
gone down while it was yet day. We mark his last 
resting-place with a broken shaft, as if to say that his 
life was an unfinished thing, imperfect and fragment- 
ary — a comparative failure; and yet, as I can not 
doubt, in the sight of God his life was really richer, 
more complete, and crowned with more golden fruit- 
age than the life of many another who has died at 
threescore and ten, and seemed to go down to the 
grave like a shock of corn fully ripe and ready for the 
harvest. 

" We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths ; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart-throbs." 

Here, then, is the outer court in the temple of spir- 
itual character where all stand together and on a com- 
mon level ; where Christian and infidel, Jew and Gen- 
tile, the spiritual soldier and the earthly warrior, Paul 
the persecutor and Paul the apostle, Caesar the earthly 
monarch, and Christ the Spiritual King, Wesley and 
Wellington, Luther and Loyola, Newton and Napo- 
leon, meet and mingle without distinction. 
II. A True Life must be a Loyal One. 
Loyal to God and to his universe ; loyal to truth 
and righteousness. And this means a profound and 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 361 

controlling sense of the sancity of law and of right. 
This is the holy place in the temple of spiritual char- 
acter. He who enters here belongs to the kingdom 
of God. He has crossed the line of demarkation which 
separates the children of this world from the children 
of light. 

The great question in morals and in practical re- 
ligion is this : Which is first, holiness or happiness? 
Is an act right because it promotes happiness ; or does 
it promote happiness because it is right ? This is the 
great question of all the ages, carrying in its bosom 
all the great issues which have been raised, not only 
in morals, but in religion itself ; and yet, if I mistake 
not, the intuitions of men upon it are all one way. 
Various are the tests which may be applied to ascer- 
tain what these intuitions are; but when they are ap- 
plied, the result is invariably the same. For instance : 

1. We can conceive of God as laying aside his 
happiness in some sense and in some degree, as, per- 
haps, may be involved in the very idea of the atone- 
ment; but who can conceive of God as laying aside 
his holiness f 

2. We can think of God as inflicting unho:ppiness, 
as indeed he does on all hands in the common course 
of nature and providence; but who can conceive of 
God as inflicting sin? The antagonism between God 
and spiritual evil is so absolutely perfect as to amount 
to an exact contradiction, so that we can no more think 
of God as originating Satan, in his character as Satan, 
than we can think of him as casting down his own 
throne. 

3. And what mean these popular adages which, 

24 



362 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



whether true or false, certainly express the common 
judgment of men? "Better that ninety and nine 
guilty persons go unpunished than that one innocent 
person should suffer unjustly/' What is this but say- 
ing that the one mistake irretrievable and fatal which 
society can commit is the mistake of doing wrong. 
For such a mistake as this there is no possible com- 
pensation. It unsettles the very foundations on which 
the whole fabric of society rests. 

Then let us fully confront this one, all-compre- 
hending basal truth, that the one sacred thing in the 
universe is righteousness. He who has it has the key 
which will unlock an illimitable paradise. In this 
bark he may safely undertake to navigate the ocean 
of eternity, and adopt Whittier's words of calm and 
joyful trust: 

" I know not where His islands lift 
Their fronded palms in air ; 
I only know I can not drift 
Beyond His love and care." 

The sublimest spectacle in the universe is the man 
who takes his stand, and maintains it, upon eternal 
truth ; who recognizes the absolute supremacy of prin- 
ciple ; who stands forth as a visible illustration of the 
kingdom which can not be moved, but abideth for- 
ever, asking not what is politic or expedient or 
agreeable, but what is true and what is right. Such a 
life strikes its roots down into that which is eternal. 
It takes hold on God ; it makes us realize the dignity 
and the worth of man; it is absolutely invincible. 

" For right is right, since God is God, 
And right the day must win ; 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 



363 



To doubt would be disloyalty, 
To falter would be sin." 

Like that eminent Christian father, Athanasius, 
the greatest man of his time, and one of the greatest 
of all time, who, when he was told that the entire 
church was yielding to the God-denying heresy, and 
so he and his cause must fail, bravely lifted up his 
voice in banishment, " Athanasius contra mundum" — 
" Athanasius against the world." And Athanasius, as 
against the world, was the victor; for the entire 
church rejoices to confess its faith in that creed which 
is called by his name. Or that man of iron, John 
Knox, to whose fervent spirit " the fire of surrounding 
martyrdoms but gave a rush of quicker zeal," and 
when the ax of tyrants threatened, firmly stood his 
ground until the idols fell and Scotland was free; over 
whose grave an enemy pronounced the eulogium: 
" Here lies one who never feared the face of man." Or 
like that grand heroic daughter of his, who, when she 
pleaded so earnestly for the life and liberty of her 
husband, John Welsh, and received an intimation 
from the king that he would grant her request if she 
would bring her husband to promise to desist from his 
rebellious preaching, held up her apron before the 
king, her eyes flashing fire, and exclaimed : " Please, 
your majesty, before I'd ask my husband to do this, 
I'd catch his head here." 

One of the most familiar passages of personal his- 
tory that could be cited is that one which illustrates, 
with peculiar clearness and impressiveness, the qual- 
ity of character on which I now insist. I allude to 
that most memorable chapter in the personal history 



364 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



of Luther, in which he was called to stand before the 
Diet of Worms. It was a scene of fearful excite- 
ment, and Luther himself was almost the only per- 
son who seemed entirely calm. When called upon 
to retract the heresies of his writings, "he made 
answer in a low and humble tone, without any vehe- 
mence or violence, but with gentleness and mildness, 
and in a manner full of respect and confidence, yet 
with much joy and Christian firmness. " He said, if 
in anything he had used severe and bitter language 
to men, he was wrong; "but as to doctrine," said he, 
" I can not submit my faith either to pope or councils. 
If I am not convinced by Holy Scripture, if my con- 
science is not thus bound by the Word, I can not and 
I will not retract ; for it can not be right for a Chris- 
tian man to speak against his conscience." And then, 
having uttered these final words, which must in all 
probability seal his fate, he looked around upon the 
assembly before which he stood, and which held in 
its hands his life, and said : " Here I stand. I can do 
no otherwise. God help me. Amen." So came to 
its birth the new Protestantism, the fundamental prin- 
ciple of which is loyalty to God's revealed truth — 
a principle destined to work a full and thorough refor- 
mation and purification of the church of the living 
God. The only sanctification which is recognized by 
the Word of God is the sanctification through the 
truth ; any and all other forms and methods of sanc- 
tification are born of fanaticism, and must tend only 
to spiritual despotism, and then to corruption. 

You remember how, in that battle on which, at 
the beginning of the present century, the fortunes of 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 



365 



the civilized world were made to turn, when the 
genius of Napoleon had been baffled and thwarted by 
the talent of Wellington, so that the fortunes of the 
contest had turned against the French, as a last resort 
the command was given for the charge of the Im- 
perial Guard. It was near the close of one of the 
most fearful days in the world's history ; scenes of 
carnage had been witnessed more appalling than lan- 
guage can describe. France, England, Europe, the 
civilized world, were looking upon the struggle which 
must decide their destiny. Then it was that the for- 
tunes of the day were committed to the Imperial 
Guard, whose steps had never before moved but in the 
path of victory. With no sound of fife or drum, no 
shout or huzza, the guard commenced its march across 
that dreadful plain, and as the artillery of the allies was 
turned upon them, mowing down their ranks at every 
discharge, there could only be heard along their lines, 
" Close up ! close up !" as they pressed steadily on. 
And when it became fully evident that they had failed, 
and that a few more discharges would annihilate 
them, the allies in admiration of their bravery ceased 
firing, and sent the message, " Brave men, surrender 
and it was in that terrible hour that this mere handful 
of men, standing in the very "jaws of death and in 
the mouth of hell/' returned the immortal reply, 
"The guard dies; it never surrenders." 

O, could the ranks of truth be filled with men of 
such invincible spirit as this, the glad shout would 
speedily go up that the kingdoms of this world 
have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
Christ, 



366 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



III. A True Life must be a Consecrated 
Life. 

This is the holiest of all in the temple of charac- 
ter — the place where God dwells ; where the Shekinah 
beams; where man and God meet, and the divine in- 
terpenetrates and pervades and transforms the human ; 
where is that secret conduit through which the life 
of God flows down into this world of death. For 
what this dead world needs is life. Not forms, nor 
creeds, nor polish, nor pruning primarily; not by- 
mechanical appliances, nor spiritual legerdemain ; not 
by robes, and tonsures, and incense, and attitudes, can 
the terrible necessities of our ruined humanity be met. 
The one, earnest, agonizing prayer is for life; and 
until this prayer is answered we have no other wants 
and can know no other blessings. The world may 
totter under its weight of cathedrals; its pile of 
ghastly uniformity as to religious rites and ceremonies 
may have a base as broad as Sahara, and all be but a 
splendid mausoleum of the dead. 

The lamp of sacrifice is the only one which can 
cast its rays into the dungeon of sinning and suffer- 
ing humanity. There must be those who are willing 
to live for the world just as Christ was willing to die 
for the world. Every truly consecrated soul is a liv- 
ing soul, and becomes a channel of the divine life, it 
is a golden link binding humanity to God — a tree of 
life whose leaves and fruit are for the sustenance and 
healing of the nations. 

1. Such a life is in harmony with the universe. 
Everything in nature finds its end out of itself. The 
sun shines not for itself, but for the world. The rain 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 367 



falls not for itself, but for the world. The flowers 
bloom not for themselves ; they bloom to fill our air 
with fragrance and our hearts with beauty. 

2. And so of man. A man has not a parental 
spirit who has it not in his heart to sacrifice for his 
child; a child has not a. filial spirit who is not willing 
to sacrifice for his parent ; a brother is not truly such 
who is not willing to share his brother's sorrows, and 
extend a helping hand for his relief; a husband is not 
worthy of the relation who does not take his wife for 
poorer as well as richer, for worse as well as better, 
and for sickness as well as health; a man is not a 
'patriot who has it not in his heart to sacrifice himself, 
if need be, for his country's good. Indeed, a man 
does not even get a glimpse of the high possibilities 
before him as an artist, a poet, an architect, a philoso- 
pher, or a worker in any of the high fields of human 
achievements, whose heart has never glowed with an 
enthusiasm which would lead him to forget him- 
self in his work, and make him rejoice to sacrifice 
himself for his work. If, then, a man is not a father, 
a child, a brother, a husband, a patriot, an artist, or 
a hero, who has not learned obedience to the great 
law of sacrifice, may we not put all this together, 
and rise to the highest generalization where we 
can see the whole truth face to face ? A man is 
not a man, he does not illustrate the divine idea of 
humanity, unless he has come to this great birth ex- 
perience of self-crucifixion. 

3. We have seen how this law of sacrifice is 
wrought into the very texture of the universe, so that 
he who lives a selfish life sets himself against all the 



368 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



forces of the universe, visible and invisible, and so 
becomes a monstrous blot upon its fair pages. But 
I desire especially to say that this law of sacrifice 
constitutes the very substance and essence of Chris- 
tianity ; so much so, that a man does not even conceive 
of the Christian life who is a stranger to this law. 
" Ye know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, 
though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, 
that we through his poverty might be made rich; 
w r ho, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God, but made himself of no 
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, 
and was made in the likeness of men ; and being found 
in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.' 7 

Such is Christ and such is Christianity. And they 
who share most fully the life of God, will illustrate 
most clearly this great law of sacrifice. Look upon 
another picture, such as we have been so long familiar 
with that, as I fear, we fail to recognize its sublimity. 

" In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in 
perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, 
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils 
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among 
false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watch- 
ings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in 
cold and nakedness." 

Now let me put by the side of this picture, which 
seems to me to be one of the most wonderful ever 
sketched, one from a humbler source. One week ago 
last Wednesday, there was celebrated in Eastern Ohio, 
at an obscure place called Gnadenhutten, the centen- 



CHARACTER OF A TRUE LIFE. 



369 



nial of a sad tragedy which marked the early history 
of Christian missions on this continent. The Mora- 
vians, with much heroism and sacrifice, had planted a 
mission, hoping to Christianize and then civilize the 
wild men, aborigines of this continent. The mission 
had been established, but it was at a fearful expense 
of suffering, and toil, and hardship. On the night of 
the 24th of May, 1782, the mission family were 
alarmed while at supper by the barking of a dog. As 
one of the brethren opened the door to ascertain the 
cause, a company of Indians, lying in ambush, fired 
upon them, and he fell dead, while his wife and others 
were wounded at his side; but they succeeded in bar- 
ricading the door of their house-fort, and the well 
and wounded rushed up-stairs. But their refuge was 
a vain one, for the Indians persevered in their attack 
and fired the building, and all but two perished in the 
flames. One woman, sick and wounded, crawled un- 
observed from the burning house, and succeeded in 
concealing herself in the bushes, and so lived to tell 
the story. " The last time I saw my sister," she said, 
" she was kneeling on the burning roof in prayer, 
and I heard her say, in a clear, sweet voice, ' 'T is all 
well, my dear Savior. 7 v In that hour of terrible sur- 
prise and mortal agony, when the hopes of her life 
and the treasures of her heart had perished in an hour, 
so perfect is her consecration that she sweetly con- 
fesses, " ; T is all well, my dear Savior." 

[Note. — It was thought best, for the sake of completeness, 
to allow the passages in this discourse which are repeated in 
the sermon on "God's Requirements," to remain. — Editor.] 



370 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



VII. 

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 

" For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; 
for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." — John 
hi, 34. 

THE first question which arises on the reading of 
this text is one of interpretation, What is meant 
by " God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him?" 
Doubtless there is, at the very outset, some suggestion 
of contrast between the way in which God gives and 
the way in which men give. Men give " by meas- 
ure " — with a rigid and calculating parsimony, lest 
the supply become exhausted, and they bankrupt ! 
God's goodness is an ocean of unwasting fullness. It 
can not be exhausted and it can not be diminished. 
It is infinitely, gloriously the same, " yesterday, to- 
day, and forever." He is able to do for us " exceed- 
ing abundantly above all that we can ask or even 
think." 

And so we have here an anticipation of the 
" therefore " of the great commission : " All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth ; go ye there- 
fore into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature." Thus, in effect, saying, I who send you 
am the everlasting and universal King. I stand on 
the very throne of earth and heaven, and give my 
law to all things, all men and all angels; and in 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



371 



sending you forth I put you in league with all the 
forces of the visible and the invisible universe. 
Going on my errands, you march with all the host 
of God. The winds shall never be contrary. The 
lightnings shall not leap forth angrily and destruc- 
tively upon you. " The stars in their courses " shall 
not fight against you, as they did against Sisera, 
God's enemy ; but every one of them shall shed 
down upon you perpetual benediction. God will 
give his angels charge concerning you, and he will 
give the whole material and spiritual universe charge 
concerning you. Going on Christ's errands of mercy 
and salvation, you will find an open path to success 
and victory ; and, if you do but mark them well, you 
will see all along foot-prints still glowing with living 
light from the everlasting throne. 

But a more specific contrast is here suggested ; 
namely, between the Christian minister and the priests 
and prophets of the old dispensation. To these God 
gave his Spirit, but it was " by measure." It was lim- 
ited to special times, places, and relations, and did not 
come in all the glorious fullness which characterizes 
the Christian age. To them it came as an influence 
external, mechanical, and fitful ; to the minister it 
comes as a personal agent, warm, vital, and bringing 
the exhaustless resources of life. The prophet was, 
at certain times, caught up into the mount of spirit- 
ual vision, where he talked with God face to face, as 
a man talketh with his friend. God comes down to 
the minister, and walks with him up and down the 
ways of his ordinary life, giving him that sense of 
sympathy and support which only the living presence 



372 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



of an almighty Friend can give. The priest, at cer- 
tain times and in a prescribed place, waited upon God 
in holy service; the minister serves in a universal 
temple, and all his days are days of God. * 

In this text we have a perfect description of the 
Christian Minister. 

I. His Character — "Sent of God." 
II. His Work — " To speak the words of God" 

III. His Endowment — The fullness of the Divine 
Spirit. 

I. His Character — "Whom God hath sent," 
1. First of all, then, he is described as one "sent." 

He is not his own master. The very essence of his 

ministerial character is service. He has 

" A work of lowly love to do 
For the Lord on whom he waits." 

" Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your 
minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, 
let him be your servant: even as the Son of man 
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and 
to give his life a ransom for many." 

Now, it follows that precisely here is the test of 
genuineness, and also of value, in a minister. That 
life which contains most of spiritual service is most 
perfectly conformed to the Christian pattern ; and, on 
the other hand, the life which contains most of self- 
seeking, no matter though it be prosecuted with 
consummate adroitness and success, will be most ab- 
solutely abnormal and unchristian — an organized re- 
bellion against the order of heaven and the spirit of 
Christianity. 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 373 



2. But there is here also a suggestion of aggress- 
iveness. 

The minister is one who has a mission. He is 
not simply to keep guard, to stand on the defensive, 
to hold the fort, as we have been singing in all these 
years, ad nauseam; but he is to go forth to aggress- 
ive warfare. Christ himself says : " Think not that 
I am come to send peace on the earth ; I am not 
come to send peace, but a sword." The fundamental 
assumption of Christianity — that without which the 
Christian religion would be a grand impertinence — 
is that the world is wrong ; that the established or- 
der of heaven has been reversed, and hence the only 
hope of humanity is in radical reconstruction. The 
audacity of human rage did not go one whit beyond 
the truth when the apostles were described as the 
men who " had turned the world upside down ;" for 
this is the exact aim of Christianity, and she will 
not be satisfied until it has been fully accomplished. 
Her spirit with regard to all other religions is that of 
holy intolerance. She is working steadily to the ideal 
of making this earth a universal temple, in which 
every member of the human race shall be a devout 
and spiritual worshiper — all, rich and poor, cultured 
and ignorant, ruler and subject, black and white, 
kneeling together on our common earth, and repeat- 
ing in blessed unison, " Our Father who art in 
heaven." For, while it is the cry of monarchists 
across the water, " God save the queen !" and of pol- 
iticians here, " God* save the Union!" and of timid 
ecclesiastics, " God save the Church !" let it be the 
cry of Christians everywhere, " God save the people!" 



374 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



for if they are saved, everything else worth saving 
will be saved too. 

Joseph Cook once said that the grand character- 
istic of Mr. Moody — that in which he shows his gen- 
eralship more than anywhere else — is his power to 
set other people to work, and "in so setting them to 
work as to set them on fire;" and in this single phrase 
Mr. Cook gives an excellent description of a Chris- 
tian worker. Men who have been so set to work as 
to be set on fire, are the men for whom the church 
is waiting. 

We need to fix it a little more deeply in our minds 
that we belong to a militant church, and must either 
conquer or die. Hso man who has not this spirit of 
determined aggressiveness — this unflinching purpose 
to turn everything to account for the Master and his 
one work of saving men — is a minister at all. Nay, 
he is not even a Christian in any full and normal 
sense. He may, indeed, belong to that class who 
shall be saved "so as by fire/' for it can never be 
told where the line is which separates these from 
those who shall be finally lost — a fortunate wave may, 
at the very last, carry the imperiled one into the port 
of everlasting deliverance — but this is no truthful 
illustration of the real genius of Christianity. He 
that is content to stand idle all the day in the eccle- 
siastical market-places because no man hath hired 
him, or to sit in the seats of spiritual ease and expa- 
tiate on the good things of the kingdom while men 
are dying all around him, or to spend his time gazing 
wistfully into the heavens because he expects ulti- 
mately to enter them, will need something more than 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



375 



the consecrating hands of a bishop to make him a 
true minister of the Lord Jesus. And if I believed 
that it is the necessary influence of the schools, and 
especially of the theological school, or any other 
course of preparatory training for the ministry, to 
conceal, or in any manner to obscure this truth, I 
should pray in behalf of Methodism and spiritual 
culture, in reference to them all, "Good Lord, de- 
liver us!" 

We have, of late, been singing quite too much — 

" to be nothing, nothing, 
Only to lie at His feet!" 

For lying at the feet of Jesus is not the special busi- 
ness of the Christian in this world. When the time 
comes, and the word comes, it is quite as important, 
and quite as Christian, to go forth into the "high- 
ways and hedges, and compel them to come in." 
There v are a good many people who are more willing 
to pray for the New Jerusalem to come down from 
heaven, than to labor to build it up on earth. " It 
is a blessed thing to go to heaven in a chariot of fire, 
but more blessed still to leave behind those who shall 
weep by the cast-off mantle of flesh, and exclaim : 
i My father ! the chariots of Israel and the horsemen 
thereof!'" 

3. The mission of the minister is a divine one — he 
is sent of God. 

He goes on God's errand as definitely and author- 
itatively as does an angel. He goes to men with a 
message, which is just as really from God,* and just 
as certainly fraught with vital interest to the race, as 
was that message of wondrous import which the angel 



376 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



Gabriel brought to the lowly Jewish maiden of Naz- 
areth, whom he saluted as the most highly favored of 
women, because she was to be the mother of the Son 
of God. He enters the ministry, not because of a 
general desire to do good — to be fully consecrated and 
loyally obedient to the divine will — but because of 
the solemn pressure of Jehovah's authority; because 
he has come to have a deep and abiding conviction 
that he is called to this work, as really as though the 
Divine Master had spoken his individual name from 
the skies and imperatively summoned him to this 
post of duty. 

I regard this as a most vital matter. For my 
young brethren who are just entering the Christian 
ministry, I pray, more than for any human qualifica- 
tion — more than for superior natural endowments or 
high educational attainments — more than for extraor- 
dinary gifts and graces, a clear and distinct sense of 
a personal divine call. Without this, you are no min- 
ister ; with it, you may feel that you are " linked with 
Omnipotence." You should be in the ministry be- 
cause of your conviction that God wants you there ; 
not for your own sake, but for Christ's sake, and for 
the sake of your perishing fellow-men ; and there, not 
to make a convenience of the ministry until something 
more lucrative or more inviting shall offer — a specu- 
lator, or money-broker, or politician in disguise, while 
the deluded people unsuspectingly believe that you 
are in good faith a minister laboring with consuming 
desire for the salvation of their souls — but there to 
save souls, to serve the Master, to put down error, to 
drive out sin, to pour light into dark minds and bring 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 377 



peace and consolation to sad hearts, and by all possi- 
ble means to bring back to the race its lost purity 
and perfection. The apostle speaks of some who have 
entertained angels unawares; were he writing to-day, 
he would also be able to speak of families and churches 
who, while thinking to open their doors to God's 
messengers, have found to their grief and humiliation 
that they were entertaining money-brokers or in- 
surance agents unawares. Who shall tell to what 
extent the shock, which all this gives to the faith of 
God's people, makes against the success of Christian- 
ity in the very places where it ought to be most glo- 
riously victorious 

(a) He who feels that he is in the ministry at the 
command of God, will be likely to be faithful to his 
calling. He will not caricature the ministerial office 
by turning aside, for slight reasons, to follow other 
professions. By his heroism and self-sacrifice, he will 
make it possible for the church to believe that men 
do enter the sacred office from the highest motives. 
And, instead of shallow editorials on the " Decay of 
Pulpit Power/' written by men who rarely or never 
see the inside of a Christian church, it will be felt 
and acknowledged on all hands that the pulpit, with 
such men in it, is a center of power, and that the in- 
fluences proceeding from it are more vital and influ- 
ential than any other. The order of Heaven will be 
maintained, and God's truth placed on the throne of 
this world. 

(b) This sense of a personal divine call will hold 
the minister to God's own idea of this work. 

Living in the solemn presence of a "thus saith 

25 



378 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



the Lord," he will not find it comfortable to walk in 
the slimy ways of the ecclesiastical politician. He 
will be so busy in exhorting other men to make their 
calling and election sure, that he will have little time 
to think of his own calling and election to fat bene- 
fices and high offices. Think of Moses coming down 
from the holy mount to concoct some scheme for 
placing himself at the head of a dynasty ; or Caleb 
and Joshua planning to turn their exploring tour to 
private advantage, keeping a sharp lookout for the 
rich pasture-lands, the living springs, or the eligible 
town-sites, which they would make haste to secure 
when once the land should be occupied ; think of Paul 
laying in with Ananias, on the occasion of that first 
visit, to secure for him the " best thing " in the infant 
church ; or John, making all haste to get himself back 
to Ephesus from the Patmos Isle, to make sure of a 
copyright of his sublime visions, — and the sacrilege 
would not be a whit more real, though it might be 
more grotesque, than that which may be committed 
by ecclesiastical place-seekers in this nineteenth cen- 
tury, and in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

(c) This conviction of a call from God will clothe 
the ministry with power. 

Next to the fact of life in God, this is the one 
grand qualification for an effective ministry. Even 
a rude and uncultured man, with a clear conviction 
that he is God's messenger, will wield a power in- 
comparably greater than the most cultivated and 
richly endowed representative of the schools who 
takes up the ministry simply as a profession. A sad 
day would it be for the Methodist Church were she 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



379 



to exchange this characteristic sense of a divine call 
on the part of her ministers for the best products, and 
all the products, which the schools can afford. Were 
she to lose this holy impulse and this sweet authority, 
and take instead all her colleges and her theological 
schools, it would be a fatal exchange. When our 
Methodist Samson consents to be deprived of that 
which has been hitherto a visible sacrament between 
him and God, the uncircumcised will be sure to 
triumph. 

And so let me say to my younger brethren who 
are just now entering the holy ministry, Go, sum- 
moned by the voice of God. Go as God's messengers. 
Christ sends you. The blessed Spirit arms you with 
his divine authority. You go as legates of the skies, 
just as really as though you were angels from heaven. 
Go, then, as Christ's representatives. As you enter 
the house of woe, may the stricken ones see Christ, 
the Consoler, in you ! As you stand up before the 
people, may Christ, the Great Teacher, stand with 
you and speak his words through you. And when 
you minister at the altar — applying the baptismal 
water, breaking the bread, and dispensing the cup — 
may your ministry and your benediction be that of 
the invisible Christ, who, having been translated from 
this realm of sense, makes men the organs and chan- 
nels of his grace and life. 

II. But the text sets forth the work of the minis- 
ter — " To speak the words of God" 

Not his own words — his personal conceits and 
speculations ; not the words of other men, for he may 
call no man master; not the words of the church, 



380 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



though it is indeed the body of Christ — but the mes- 
sage of the Divine Father to his sinful and erring 
children. The one thing which must not be absent 
from the Christian pulpit is the word of God. Take 
this away, and we have no Christian pulpit at all — no 
true ministry, no church, no Savior, no life, no hope — 
nothing but darkness, despair, and death, everywhere 
and forever! The one deprivation which carries all 
possible miseries in its bosom is a " famine of the 
word of God ;" and it is this, the world's great want, 
which the preacher is set to supply. 

But let him take no narrow and illiberal view of 
the " words of God." For— 

1. Some of the " words of God" are written on 
the face of the material universe. 

Nature articulates God's thoughts and feelings — 
his purposes and his character. His words are writ- 
ten in characters of light on the deep-blue of the 
overarching heavens, and in characters of green and 
gold, scarlet and vermillion, all over the face of this 
beauteous earth. They are proclaimed from the 
clouds by the " fire-tongue of thunder," and scratched 
by the "fire-pen" of the volcano upon the adamant- 
ine rock. They sweep up from the mighty deep in 
the " voices of many waters," and they are borne to 
us in the soft music of the evening zephyr; indeed, 
" there is no speech nor language where their voice 
is not heard." 

Every word of God is holy ; and every man who 
is able to understand and interpret these, so as to 
lodge them more perfectly in the minds and hearts 
of other men, has a holy mission — one which neither 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



381 



he nor his fellows have a right to disparage. The 
professor of natural science has his commission from 
God as truly as the professor of revealed religion. 
And he has a right to stand by his side — not above 
him and not below him, but by his side — as a fellow- 
worker in God's great harvest-field of truth. The 
last use to which the Bible should be put is to wield 
it as a bludgeon against the votaries of science. I 
know of but one thing more nauseating than for men, 
who have hardly learned the alphabet of science, to 
stand up in Christian pulpits and spend their breath 
in "refuting" Darwin and Huxley, Tyndall and Her- 
bert Spencer — without ever having read a chapter 
that either one of them has ever written — and that is 
for men, who have never learned the alphabet of rev- 
elation, to assume to dispatch with a contemptuous 
sneer Moses, Paul, John, or, more frequently, the 
Bible as a whole. In the same way might a blind 
man, out of his own poor and mutilated experience, 
annihilate the whole science of optics, or a deaf man 
" refute " all the laws of sound. 

Let not the minister of religion thus turn God's 
harmonies into discords. Let him not begin his work 
by denying the God of nature. And let him not 
contradict the facts of nature, "lest haply he be found 
to fight against God." Rather let him be a reverent 
and loving student of nature. Let him often seek 
rest and inspiration by holding " communion with her 
visible forms." Let him breathe the " unsectarian 
air." Let him bask in the beams of the catholic sun. 
Let him go back and stand with the old Hebrews, 
who saw God in everything, and communed with him 



382 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



everywhere, never allowing any barricade of second 
causes to shut him off from human view. 

2. The " words of God " are written on the pages 
of human history. 

For the very idea of history assumes that the 
career of humanity is a development, the unfolding of 
a germ, and so that it proceeds according to a plan — 
that it had a beginning, and tends to a conclusion. 
If the successive generations of men are but so many 
waves of one great changeless sea ; if the ebb and flow 
of human affairs is but an unprogressive oscillation 
between extremes eternally fixed; if the stream of 
human events flows ever on in one weary, monoto- 
nous go-round, evermore repeating itself, then is his- 4 
tory impossible. History is an expression of the 
thought of God, who implanted these wonderful po- 
tencies in the original germ ; an expression, too, of 
peculiar significance and sacredness. God's words are 
written here in characters of light and life, and of 
darkness and blood; of freedom and serfdom, and of 
prosperity and disaster; of beauty and order, and of 
chaos and ruin. A careful and comprehensive survey 
compels the conclusion that a God is the judge; he 
casteth down one and raiseth up another. " 

But, in admitting God to the field of history, the 
minister must not exclude man. He must still recog- 
nize his responsible agency and his creative power. 
He must not think of the race as "a patent engine, 
to be ruled over with valves and balances." He 
must not think that sinners can be molded, or chis- 
eled, or sand-papered into saints; or that, if the proper 
ingredients be skillfully mixed, right character can 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



383 



always be produced. He must never think that me- 
chanical processes or manipulations or evolutions can 
solve the solemn problem of spiritual life and char- 
acter. He must fully understand that God can, and 
does, maintain a government over free beings; that 
man is indeed the " arbiter of his own destiny" — and 
yet that that destiny is the last and most adequate 
expression which God can make of himself in the 
realm of finite existence. 

3. But all possible revelations meet in one per- 
sonal revelation, who is styled, by way of eminence, 
" The Word of God;" and it is the one great and 
comprehensive work of the minister to make this rev- 
elation known — to cause men to see it and receive it. 
In this sinful and deathful world of ours there is but 
one thing worth saying — but, O for grace to say it 
aright, with our lips, our hearts, and our lives! — 
" Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin 
of the world!" 

Now the words by which this personal revelation 
of God is made known to men are pre-eminently the 
words of God, and it is these words which it is pre- 
eminently the business of the minister to speak. His 
one work is to clear away all obstructions which lie 
between men and the word of God; to lay the Bible 
on the hearts and consciences of men, and lodge its 
saving truths in their deepest consciousness, thus 
making it a controlling force in their lives. The 
minister's science, his department, and his text-book, 
is the Bible. He is under the same obligation to 
know the Bible and how to use it as the doctor to un- 
derstand medicine, the astronomer the telescope, or 



384 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



the mason the trowel. To this extent his obligation 
is imperative. He may not ignore it, for he can not 
escape it. If he lacks this, no matter what else he 
may know, he is a charlatan. No matter how digni- 
fied and impressive in personal bearing, how shrewd 
and enterprising in financial affairs, how thoroughly 
versed in ecclesiastical and canon law, or how adroit 
and successful as an ecclesiastical politician; no mat- 
ter how perfectly he may comprehend the church as 
a mere machine, and feel himself competent to "run 
it no matter how eloquent or learned, how polished 
in manner or amiable in spirit, — if he lacks a knowl- 
edge of the Bible, and the ability to use it as an in- 
strument of spiritual edification, he lacks the founda- 
tion-element of a true ministerial character. 

But what is it to know the Bible? Is it to be- 
come so familiar with the original languages of Scrip- 
ture that we can stand face to face with God's inspi- 
ration, with no human authority to intervene? Is it 
to know the archaeology of the Bible, so that no land 
shall be so familiar as the Holy Land ; no city as 
Jerusalem; no people as that people among whom 
Christ lived and died, and of whom, according to the 
flesh, he came ; no dress, dwellings, trees, plants, 
flowers, fruits, customs, observances, so well known 
as those which go to make up the frame-work of 
Scripture? Is it to have the memory richly stored 
with the very words of the Bible, so that the Holy 
Spirit shall always find ready instruments for any 
w r ork which may need to be done upon any part of 
our nature? Is it to understand the great truths of 
the Bible, so that we are mighty for theologic and 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



385 



polemic strife? All these, indeed, but incomparably 
more. It means that the grand inspirations of Scrip- 
ture have taken possession of our souls. It means 
that we have come to read in our Bible the dialect 
of heaven — the speech of the immortal life. It means 
that every foot of the outer court is familiar ground; 
but it also means that it has become so because we 
have so often passed through it on our way to the 
holiest of all. 

And what is it to speak the words of God ? Is it 
to interlard one's discourse with the very words of 
Scripture, as if there were in these some mechanical 
virtue, and then roll them over the congregation with 
majestic arsis and thesis like the waves of the sea? 
Is it to select and have at command texts of Scrip- 
ture which shall serve as so many sharp-pointed 
weapons upon which to impale our theological ene- 
mies? Is it to make the Bible a framework by 
means of which to exhibit to the admiring gaze of 
our congregations the splendid triumphs of our 
genius and treasures of our learning? Is it to prac- 
tice our ingenuity upon it to see with what felicity of 
alliteration, what grotesqueness of grouping, and with 
what kaleidoscopic variety of permutations we can 
bewilder the congregation, and especially the Sab- 
bath-school? Is it to make a verse of the Bible the 
point of departure for a theological or philosophical 
disquisition, couched, not in the language of the peo- 
ple, but in that of the schools, upon which men pro- 
nounce the very doubtful encomium that it would 
" read well in a book/' and during the delivery of 
which "the hungry sheep look up but are not fed?" 



386 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



Not thus is the genuine ministry of the word. He 
truly speaks the words of God who brings their life- 
power to bear upon the natures of men, and makes it 
as though they were standing face to face with the 
Omniscient One, who brings them to recognize his 
all-comprehending infinity, his rightful sovereignty, 
his spotless purity, and his parental sympathy. 

Let me repeat it : the first and great business of 
the minister is to bridge the chasm between God's 
written word and the people, and to bring them to 
understand it, not merely as to its outward form, but 
especially as to its spirit and life. And so if there be 
anything that hinders this, that makes the minister 
unintelligible, that keeps him away from the people, 
it is vicious, and ought to be eliminated. Whether 
it be a clerical costume, a ministerial tone, a bookish 
style, a monkish air, lack of delicacy in thought and 
feeling, daintiness of manner, cloudiness of view, 
moroseness of temper, sluggishness of feeling, — any- 
thing, whatever it be, that operates as a non-con- 
ductor between the preacher and the people, is evil, 
and should, at whatever cost, be removed. The same 
Master who requires us to cut off a right hand, or to 
pluck out a right eye, if it hinder us from entering 
into life, would certainly require us to lop off an 
excrescence, or an eccentricity, if it hinders others 
from entering into life. Mrs. Charles, in that ex- 
cellent book of hers devoted to the Wesleyan refor- 
mation, puts some very sensible words into the mouth 
of one of her heroes who is looking forward to the 
Christian ministry : " I am going to Oxford, and 
when I have learned how the old Greeks and 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 



387 



Romans used to speak, before I take orders I should 
like to go to another university to learn how the 
poor, struggling men around us speak and think ; to 
live among the fishermen of the coast, to go to sea 
with them, to share their perils and privations, that 
I may learn how to reach their hearts when I come 
to preach ; and then to live among such as these poor 
miners, to go underground with them, to be with 
their families when the father is brought home hurt 
or crushed by some of the many accidents; and to 
speak to them of God and the Savior, not on Sun- 
days only and on the smooth days of life, but when 
their hearts are torn by anxiety or crushed by be- 
reavement or softened by sickness or deliverance 
from danger." 

It is especially to be deplored when a man's 
learning comes between him and his highest useful- 
ness ; when these intellectual treasures which have 
cost us so much of time and toil and money become 
mere impedimenta in the spiritual campaign upon 
which we have entered. And yet there is danger of 
just this. Having struggled heroically to acquire 
Hebrew and Greek, science and theology, because we 
know we need these for our work, it requires some 
good judgment and some heroism not to thrust them 
in the faces of our suffering people. Plainness and 
simplicity are royal virtues in every department of 
character, but they are especially Christ-like when 
brought into the speech of the pulpit. The Rev. Mr. 
Romaine, of the last century, had some reputation 
for learning, and was, at the same time, a very pop- 
ular preacher. But his sermons gave little indication 



388 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



of his learning; on the contrary, he always spoke in 
the simple language of common life. Some of his 
admirers were dissatisfied with this, and wished him 
to speak more learnedly. On the following Sabbath, 
when the time came to announce his text, he read it 
first in Hebrew, and, looking over the congregation, 
remarked : " Not one of you understands that." Then 
he read it in Greek. " I think one or two of you un- 
derstand that." Then in Latin. " Perhaps half a 
score of you know that." Finally he read it in En- 
glish, saying, " All of you understand that. In the 
church I had rather speak five w r ords with my un- 
derstanding than ten thousand words in an unknown 
tongue." 

The preacher is an interpreter, and he is the 
best preacher who is the most successful interpreter, 
who is most successful in translating the truth of 
God into the experience of men. Now this is quite 
as much a matter of the heart as of the head, 
and hence it is quite as necessary that the words of 
God be spoken affectionately as that they be spoken 
intelligibly; and so, of all men, the minister must 
have depth and tenderness of Christian sympathy. 
The cross is eloquent because it shines upon us with 
the radiance of love, and every man who uplifts this 
blood-red banner must do so under the same holy in- 
spiration. The warmth of love will sometimes sub- 
due the soul "that laugheth at the shaking of a 
spear." Not as a theologian or a rhetorician or an 
orator may the minister do his work, but as a man 
and a brother, as a witness for Jesus, as one who has 
felt in his own heart the bitterness of sin and the 



THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER. 389 



power of an endless life, and so is able to testify to 
the ability of Christ to " save unto the uttermost." 
Without this heart-experience his sermons will have 
a dry, metallic echo as of voices long since dead, " as 
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." 

III. And, finally, let me mention the Endowment 
of the Minister ; namely, the Holy Ghost. 

That which distinguishes and characterizes him 
is the holy anointing which rests upon him as a 
"tongue of fire." As a religion without the Holy 
Ghost would not be Christianity, so a man without 
the Holy Ghost would not be a Christian minister. 
He may be as eloquent as Chrysostom, as irresistible 
as Luther, as gentle and lovable as Melanchthon, 
as logical and theological as Paul, as winning as 
Fletcher, and as persistent as Wesley ; yet if he 
have not the Holy Ghost resting upon him as an 
invisible garment of power, he is not a minister at 
all. He may speak with the tongues of men and 
angels ; he may " give his goods to feed the poor," 
and his " body to be burned ;" " he may know all 
mysteries and all knowledge ;" and yet, unless he is 
called and endowed of the Holy Ghost, he is not a 
minister. As well expect vision without light, or 
sensibility without life, as to look for spiritual service 
without spiritual endowment. As life to organism, 
as fire to powder, as the electric spark to the electric 
wire, such is the Spirit of God to all human appli- 
ances for the salvation of men. Without it they are 
nothing and dead ; with it they rise into the highest 
realm of power. Only the tongue of fire can preach 



390 LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



the gospel successfully ; only the Holy Ghost can 
make a man a " burning and shining light." 

O that some angel from God's right hand would 
come down in this holy hour, and speak again to our 
deepest consciousness this one all-comprehending se- 
cret of ministerial success ! O that the Divine Spirit 
would open to our view the unseen world, with its 
one eternal Light, before whose shining all earthly 
lights grow dim and disappear ; that he would make 
us to hear that Voice, before which all earthly voices 
sink into silence ; that we might catch some glimpse 
of that great white throne, before which we must soon 
stand and give account for the most precious trust 
ever committed to mortals ! 

On the famous Eddystone light-house, off the south 
coast of Cornwall, in the English Channel, is the in- 
scription, " To give light to save life." God has placed 
us on the coast of a more dangerous sea, which is 
even now all bestrown with spiritual wrecks, and has 
given us a light to guide the imperiled to a place of 
safety. Let us, my brethren, make it the one motto 
of our ministry, " To give light to save life." 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



391 



VIII. 

FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 

" Thou desirest truth in the inward parts." — Psalms li, 6. 

THIS is God's fundamental demand of every moral 
being. Nothing is so offensive, even to men, as 
insincerity. It matters little what other qualities are 
present if that of truthfulness is wanting. No sub- 
tlety of intellect, no amiability of temper, no attrac- 
tions of person, no agreeableness of manners, no ad- 
vantages of fortune or position, can by any means 
atone for falseness of heart. He who is untrue to us 
is foul and loathsome in our sight. The man who 
is actuated simply by selfish motives, who gives no 
satisfactory proofs of loyalty, who casts away one only 
to take another into his special favor and confidence, 
who is continually, by word and by manner, assuring 
us that we dwell in the innermost sanctuary of his af- 
fection, and yet is ready to turn from us altogether 
so soon as we cease to be able or willing to serve his 
selfish ends, is a foul stench in the nostrils of every 
truth-loving man, and can retain neither the respect 
nor the love of any who know his real character. 
Men who are controlled simply by considerations of 
policy, mere diplomatists and politicians, continually 
pulling invisible wires to compass their individual 
ends, usually succeed in securing the contempt of 



392 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



every decent man ; and as a general rule they do not 
achieve any permanent success for themselves. Few- 
men have ever been so richly gifted as the famous dip- 
lomate, Talleyrand, and few ha ve ever gained for them- 
selves a more conspicuous and assured place in the 
pillory of everlasting infamy. Shakespeare's Iago is 
the most representative man of this type in all litera- 
ture, and Shakespeare dared not make him succeed. 
The truth of human nature and the drift of human 
history alike combined to demand the speedy down- 
fall and punishment of such a heartless villain. 

And if insincerity is so olfensive to man, how must 
it be to the omniscient God, " who searcheth the heart 
and trieth the reins !" While all forms of wrong- 
doing must ever be odious in his sight, he yet de- 
nounces, with peculiar solemnity of emphasis, those 
who are false of heart, and are, as Christ denomi- 
nates them, hypocrites. And hence it is that all God's 
claim upon us is summed up in that one most com- 
prehensive word, " righteousness for all is met if but 
this be met. 

The theme which is suggested by this text is, 
Fidelity to Truth. 

I. In the Convictions of our Minds. 

Here is the beginning, and yet there are many 
who ignore any special obligation at this point. It 
is a crime to be dishonest in deed or untruthful in 
word, but they have a right to think and to believe 
as they please. The obligation to truth in the forms 
of our conduct is fully recognized ; but not always is 
it clearly seen that the same obligation extends to the 
substance of character which lies beneath these con- 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



393 



stantly changing phenomenal forms. It is admitted 
that the streams which come out upon the surface of 
our lives, and into the light of public observation, 
should be pure, but it is sometimes forgotten that the 
same necessity pertains to the hidden fountains from 
which they come forth. 

But this view is both unphilosophical and unscrip- 
tural. " As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." 
No principle is better established than the power of ha- 
bitual thought to mold character ; or the absolute de- 
pendence of the activities of the outer life upon the 
will, of the will upon the sensibilities, and of the 
sensibilities upon the intellect ; so that whatever af- 
fects this, conditions the whole character. Feeling 
will be like thought, and volition will take its hue 
and coloring from the emotions. And so the first 
and most comprehensive test of our loyalty is as 
to the attitude we assume and maintain with reference 
to the truth. He who is upright in his inmost soul 
will feel an unqualified preference for the truth above 
everything else. He will " buy the truth " at whatever 
price ; no price can be too high to pay for it. More 
than interest, more than friendship, or riches, or ease, 
or honor, or the blandishments and delights of social 
life, will he prize his relations to the kingdom of the 
truth. He will say with Zwingli, "For no money will 
I part with a single syllable of the truth." Like 
Cranmer, he will thrust his right hand into the fire 
rather than it should be raised to falsify the truth. 
With the holy martyrs, he will burn at the stake, and 
bless Heaven for the flame, rather than that the truth 
shall be denied or betrayed. 

26 



394 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



This absolute loyalty of the intellect to the truth 
stands opposed, 

1. To prejudiced views. 

All judgments formed before the case has been in- 
quired into, before the evidence has been adduced, 
and before the answers have been made and candidly 
considered, are prejudgments, and so are of the na- 
ture of prejudice. He who is under their influence 
can not be loyal to the truth, and is liable to serve the 
interest of error with extraordinary effectiveness. A 
great and controlling prejudice may so obtain the 
mastery of the soul as to make it absolutely incapable 
of thinking and feeling and acting justly. 

There is an Arabian tale which records the fate of 
a ship whose pilot unfortunately steered her into the 
too close vicinity of a magnetic mountain. The nails 
and rivets were all attracted and drawn out, the 
planks fell asunder, and total wTeck ensued. Such is 
the influence of a master prejudice. The man navi- 
gates his vessel successfully until he comes within the 
influence of this prejudice, when, lo ! the bolts and 
rivets are drawn out, the seams open, the timbers fall 
apart, and himself and all his treasures are tossing in 
the angry waves. If he manages to get together his 
floating wreck, and again to set sail, it may go very 
well with him until he comes near another magnetic 
mountain, when the disaster will be repeated. This 
mountain prejudice maybe in the realm of science, or 
theology, or reform, or practical religion. Wherever 
and whatever it be, if it be a prejudice it is fraught 
w T ith danger. 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



395 



2. It is opposed to partial views. 

Truth is a jewel with as many facets as there are 
finite intelligences in the universe. No two look upon 
the same face, and so there is a sense in which all the 
views of finite minds must be partial. The view 
which another has must be different from that which I 
have — not only because we occupy different positions, 
but because we differ in our ability to recognize and 
discriminate truth. It is, then, no impeachment of a 
man that his intellectual horizon is limited, and does 
not include all; the fatal mistake is when he assumes 
that all truth is in his own consciousness. The testi- 
mony which any honest man bears as to his own 
thought is valuable, and should always be respected; 
but when he takes the next step of denying all views 
which differ from his, he perpetrates the egregious fal- 
lacy of mistaking a very small part, the merest infini- 
tesimal division, for the grand and illimitable whole. 
Truth does not ask any man to be false to his own 
convictions, even if such a thing were possible ; it only 
asks that a man shall so far understand himself as to 
realize how limited his widest survey is, and so to con- 
cede to others the same sacred right which he claims 
for himself. 

Christianity has much at stake here. There are 
many precious truths and many precious experiences 
involved in this great work of human salvation. It 
is not strange if different aspects of the work strike 
different minds as of paramount importance. Repent- 
ance, faith, the atonement, the incarnation, the sacra- 
ments, the church, the priesthood, baptism, the advent, 



396 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



the millennium, the future life, the gift of the spirit, 
the higher life, divine communion, have each in its 
turn been so treated as to convey the implication that 
it contains the whole ; and as the result, the Chris- 
tian army is rent into factions and divisions which 
have raised the shout of war against one another. 

3. And finally, not to mention more, this is op- 
posed to selfish and reckless views. 

Here is our great danger. A narrow and bitter 
intolerance is bad enough, but not so injurious as a 
certain unscrupulousness and recklessness which men 
show when their selfish interests are at stake. " If 
these things are true/' said a notable infidel with ref- 
erence to the Bible, "I am ruined." Said the vile 
and wicked Colonel Charteris, " I will give thirty 
thousand pounds to any man who will prove to my 
satisfaction that there is no hell." There can be no 
question that one of the main causes of infidelity is a 
certain willful predetermination that the Bible shall 
not be true. Men will not come to the light lest 
their deeds shall be reproved. 

And as in religion, so in all matters where human 
interest is at stake. But a few years since an invisible 
line drawn across the map of this country marked off 
the limits of loyalty and revolt, so that the masses on 
either side were arrayed in deadly hostility against 
each other. Was this because of any radical and uni- 
versal difference in their mental constitution which 
made it necessary that they should take opposite sides 
in a matter of such vital importance? or was it not 
rather because of the contagion of passion? When 
has the civilized world ever looked upon a more dis- 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



397 



appointing spectacle than that of our famous Electoral 
Commission, in which the most eminent jurists of the 
Nation, chosen as being above all paltry party con- 
siderations, divided on that great question, fraught with 
such momentous issues, eight to seven, strictly accord- 
ing to their party affiliations? Who can doubt that 
there was in the minds of these eminent men, though 
they themselves may not have been aware of it, an 
element of prejudgment? 

Many a man has spent his time belligerently hunt- 
ing his Bible for proof-texts which shall support and 
vindicate him in the beliefs he has already formed, 
who has never thought of opening his Bible humbly 
and prayerfully to ascertain what is there revealed. 

Against all these prejudiced, partial, selfish, and 
reckless views stands thorough intellectual honesty. 
Fidelity to truth requires that the intellect shall be 
absolutely under the dominion of the conscience. It 
is not true that a man has a right to think as he pleases, 
unless he pleases to think what is true. 

II. In the Feelings of our Hearts. 

This aspect of this subject is invested with peculiar 
sacredness. The heart is the citadel of life, and our 
supreme interest is always here. A man's real char- 
acter is made up of his loves and his dislikes. To do 
wrong to another in our hearts is to do an injury for 
which there can be no compensation — an injury to 
him, indeed, but a still more fatal injury to ourselves. 

1. One of the most flagrant forms of this is in 
indulging unfounded suspicions. 

In civil society every man is innocent until he is 
adjudged a criminal; and he can not be convicted as 



398 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



a criminal so long as there is a valid doubt in his 
favor. Shall there be in the heart of a Christian man 
a regard for another's most sacred rights, less careful 
and conscientious* than that which characterizes the 
administration of civil society? It needs to be more 
clearly seen, and more thoroughly emphasized, that 
we have no right to think evil of another wantonly, 
even in our inmost soul. It is a form of injustice 
more damaging than deeds of fraud or words of 
slander. 

2. Equally does this law of truth condemn extrava- 
gant partialities. 

For these disturb the harmony which can be based 
only on the truth, and are sure to be followed by un- 
reasonable prejudices. Oscillations toward one extreme 
must be counterbalanced by those toward the other. 
Though at first view it may seem generous and Chris- 
tian to place a high estimate on one's friends, even to 
the pitch of extravagance, but in the end this will be 
found to rob our lives of symmetry and equipoise, and 
to obliterate the lines and features of our own per- 
sonality. A man's most sacred duty is to be himself 
in thorough faith and loyalty; and anything which 
interferes with this is to be condemned. It is not 
well when, from excess of friendship and good feel- 
ing, one binds himself, body and soul, and delivers 
himself even to his wisest and most devoted friends. 

3. And so this principle of truth in character for- 
bids all undue elation or depression. 

We are living in a mixed condition of affairs, and 
shall be likely to pass through some strait and diffi- 
cult places ; and, on the other hand, our capacity is so 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



399 



limited that a very small good will sometimes fill it to 
overflowing. A slight success makes us feel that vic- 
tory is assured, but a little failure leads us to give up 
everything as lost. 

People who are subject to these extreme alterna- 
tions are very poor material to work into any great 
movement. They are generally strong and enthusi- 
astic when they are not particularly needed, but in 
great exigencies are not to be reckoned on. When 
the victory has been gained by others, they will swell 
the hosannas of the multitude ; but when circumstances 
are unpropitious, they are ready to exclaim with Jacob, 
"All these things are against me." 

Xot so they who are thoroughly adjusted to the 
truth. The sources of their strength are in the in- 
visible world; they care not for the varying fortunes 
of a day, for they feel that they are partakers of the 
nature of Him with whom there is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning, and who is the same yes- 
terday, to-day, and forever. 

" Truth crushed to earth shall rise again ; 
The eternal years of God are hers." 

III. In Our Words. 

Speech is one of the grand distinguishing preroga- 
tives of rational and spiritual being. As the life of 
the tree expresses itself in its characteristic form and 
structure, building up this visible monument to its 
own God-given nature, so does rational life build up 
the temple of human language; and that which gives 
this its high value is that it is the unfolding and the 
embodiment of the spirit. Words are the pledges we 



400 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



give to each other, betokening the thoughts and the 
feelings which would be otherwise invisible and in- 
audible. They constitute the circulating medium by 
which the intercourse of lifeis carried on, and there is 
no greater social crime than making and circulating 
counterfeit coin. Carlyle says that " lying is the cap- 
ital crime. " It is .so because it severs the ties of 
mutual confidence which bind us together, and makes 
real spiritual intercourse impossible. Could it be 
conceived as universal, all social life, all family life, 
and indeed all rational life, would die. This world 
would be turned back into its primitive chaos, dark- 
ness, and death. 

The obligation to truth in language is often em- 
phasized as to business and social life, and I do not 
propose at this time to discuss these aspects of my 
subject ; but I desire to call attention to one department 
of life, in which, as I judge, there is special danger 
that we forget- the law of rigid truth in language; 
namely, our religious life. There are several sources 
of danger here. First, we are likely to express, not what 
is true, what but we feel ought to be true. Then, again, 
our religious exercises are sometimes ritualistic, and 
sometimes perfunctory — that is, performed for others 
as well as ourselves — and so it awakens no lively con- 
cern if they are not the exact setting forth of what 
characterizes our individual experience. And still 
again, the use which has sometimes been made of 
" subscription " has been very demoralizing. When 
men are required to subscribe to a creed in order to 
enjoy the privileges of a national university like Ox- 
ford, there is a premium offered for infidelity to con- 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



401 



science. The effort to check the tendencies toward 
heresy in the great schools of the church by requiring, 
on the part of the professors, subscription to a minute 
and exhaustive creed statement, put forth as an ulti- 
mate and unchangeable standard, is fraught with the 
same danger. And so it needs to be more strongly 
emphasized that it is more important that a man be 
loyal to his own convictions than even to the church 
itself; for he can not be loyal to the church unless 
he is true to himself. And if there be any place 
where a man should be at special care in no way 
to cloak or dissemble, it should be when he comes 
into the immediate presence of God, and also when he 
meets with the children of God in common worship 
and fellowship. 

IV. And finally, leaving the special features and 
aspects of this subject, I would gather all that re- 
mains to be spoken into one by saying, that we should 
be faithful to truth in the Substance of Our Lives. 

We should be right in thought, pure in feeling, 
and upright in speech; but higher than all, and com- 
prehending all, we should be true, men and women. 
What we do, determines our relations to our fellows; 
what we are, determines our standing as before God. 
And when he says to us that he " desires truth in the 
inward parts," he means us to understand that his one 
grand claim upon us is for righteousness of character 
and holiness in nature; that we shall recognize in an 
honest and practical way that we belong to God, that 
we do steadily and unqualifiedly hold ourselves on the 
altar of consecration. The man who sincerely, con- 
tinually, and obediently asks, "Lord, what wilt thou 



402 



LECTURES AND SERMONS. 



have me to do?" and who makes it his one and only 
business to do the things which are made known — 
not as unto men, but as unto God — illustrates in his 
own character the words of this text. He sets forth 
in his own living example the blessedness and the 
stability of a life which is truly devoted to duty and to 
God; for what God wants is not right forms of action, 
nor right forms of speech and of feeling, considered 
in themselves, but living natures, which shall reflect 
his own image. He is most effectually served and 
honored by those whose characters are more eloquent 
than their words, and whose spirit of sanctity is more 
contagious and more fruitful than their best and most 
beneficent deeds. What is wanted is men and women 
who show by the steadiness and equipoise of their lives 
that they belong to the " kingdom which can not be 
moved," but abideth forever. 

This type of character is the only guarantee of 
permanent commercial prosperity. Laws can not ade- 
quately protect us ; business methods and usages can 
only have a regulative influence ; our only safe ground 
of anchorage is in the men w 7 ho hold their own in- 
tegrity as absolutely above all price. Said Edward 
Everett of his friend, Abbott Lawrence : " I verily 
believe, that if the dome of the State-house, which 
towers above his residence on Park Street, should be 
changed to a diamond, and laid at his feet as a bribe 
to a dishonest transaction, he Avould spurn it as the 
very dust he treads on." In such men is the only real 
stability of our commercial life. The men who can 
be trusted are sovereigns here as everywhere. 

And so also for the State. So long as public 



FIDELITY TO TRUTH. 



403 



functionaries are honest, and believed to be honest, 
republican government is possible ; but if this faith 
shall die out of the popular heart, this possibility will 
die with it. In the dark days of our own Republic 
there was always one quenchless light: We could not 
doubt the honesty and the patriotism of our God-given 
President. We were by no means certain as to his 
competency ; there were grave doubts as to his quali- 
ties of statesmanship, but no one doubted his truth ; 
and in this was our strength. Had it been otherwise, 
our way to an assured and established nationality 
would have been longer and more perilous. And to- 
day the men who give strength and stability to our 
civil life are those who commend themselves to us as 
sincerely patriotic and incorruptible. 

But especially are such true men the great need of 
the church. There are plenty who will kindle bon- 
fires on the heights of Zion, but too few who are burn- 
ing and shining lights. There are plenty who will 
join in the hosannas, but too few who, by patient 
and self-sacrificing labor, are hastening on the latter- 
day glory. The great need of the church is not bet- 
ter creeds, though it may, for all I care now to say, 
need these; it is not more perfect forms and more 
suitable instruments and accessories of Christian work 
and worship, though often, doubtless, these are needed; 
it is not a deeper and broader and richer culture, and 
this is everywhere and always needed, — the great want 
is for more of truthful characters and lives, men and 
women who, like the grand old martyrs of the ancient 
time, can die for Christ, but will not deny him. 

And the promise to such is, " They shall walk with 
me in white, for they are worthy." 



N Sunday. February 16, 1890, MRS. HEMENWAY died 
suddenly of heart disease, at her home in Evanston. 
A few weeks before, she wrote, in response to a request 
for the facts of her life, these significant words: 

"As regards my own life, in Evanston or else- 
where, it has been too quiet and uneventful to 
be mentioned except as the privileged home- 
maker of one of the purest, truest, and best of 
men, who fully appreciated the meaning of that 
sacred word, Home." 

In her character strength and beauty were harmoniously 
united. Her noble life was filled with unselfish devotion 
to her family and friends, and of faithful service to God. 
What part of that great debt the Church owes to Dr. 
Hemenway is due primarily to the faithful ministries of 
his wife, we can not tell; but he certainly recognized her 
sustaining and inspiring influence as one of the most 
precious facts of his life. 



